Spontaneity

Jake and I are not the most spontaneous people in the world.

I tend to enjoy mulling over issues for weeks before I come to a decision (even though the big decisions seem to invariably be decided during inspired whims). I spend hours considering the benefits and disadvantages of even buying a sweater.

I’ve always considered this to be a negative personality trait. Some small voice inside me insisted that as a teenager, and then as a twenty-some-year-old, I should be more creative and less logical. I should be able to act on a whim. I should do crazy things. I mean if I didn’t do them now when would I ever do them?

As with most of my recognized weaknesses, I tried to find ways to remedy the lacking by looking for opportunities to show that I could be spontaneous.

A few years ago, my company had a Valentine’s Day special where you could go to Paris for the Valentine’s Day weekend at a pretty low cost. This was my chance! I grabbed the phone and excitedly explained the plan to Jake. I told him how romantic it would be and how we would just pick up and go. And he brought me right back to earth. How would I get a visa so quickly? Did I really want to spend fourteen hours on a plane to be there for about the same amount of time? February wasn’t really the best time of year to visit France. And so on.

I felt deflated.

Even though I knew he was right, and that this wasn’t the best idea, I was mad at Jake for ruining my chance to be out-of-character. A few more opportunities rose in the last few years, but we turned them down pretty quickly.

Spontaneity simply wasn’t in our blood.

The last few weeks have been very taxing on both of us. Due to a change of arrangement at work, I found out that I’d get a five-day weekend this weekend and Jake wouldn’t be working on Monday and Tuesday for the first time in over a year. This time, we seized the opportunity. Last night at 11pm, we bought last-minute-deal tickets to Ft Lauderdale, Florida and made car rental reservations. Today, we booked a hotel. Tomorrow morning at 6am, we will be leaving for Florida.

Our first spontaneous trip.

We have no set plans. We didn’t book it months in advance. As of 10pm tonight, we haven’t even packed, yet. Our only mission is to have a great weekend. No matter what.

Maybe there’s room for change in us after all.

Previously? Anonymity.