Banish Boredom—No Excuses

Last week I committed to doing something I will probably regret, something for which I am sure my posterior will not thank me. 

Inspired by an energetic Baldwin woman who has every reason to lounge around on her bottom but doesn’t, I decided to get mine in motion. For months my 11-year-old son had been bugging me to do an overnight bike trip. The look of shock and joy on his face when I suddenly said yes was priceless; later in June we will be doing the almost 60-mile round trip from Connellsville to Confluence and back—camping inbetween.

Carolyn Sigel, my Baldwin muse, fell out of a window 30 years ago and became paralyzed from the hips down. Quiet and unassuming, but with biceps and a will both made of steel, Carolyn stays uber-active, regularly doing 20 miles or more of trail riding on her arm-powered tricycle. (Read her story.) She is just one of the several women profiled in this month’s Wise Women E-journal who have not let circumstance get in the way of a full and interesting life. Boredom is not on their long-term agenda.

We all cave to inactivity, ennui and self pity on occasion. Debbie Romano of Castle Shannon was in such a state when injury left her unable to work in her chosen field. Her husband brought home a scented candle and inspiration struck. Romano fell in love with candle making and all things "smelly," and created a successful home-based business, Divine Scentsations. (Read the story.)

It was less dramatic circumstances of life—kids, husband, running a home—that initially kept Karen Hogya of Upper St Clair from doing something she had always loved: dance. Then, her young neighbor Brianna Lewis, who didn’t let the tender age of 22 be an excuse, opened a dance studio in Peters Township. Karen too decided to beat the age (somewhat in the other direction) bias and started dancing again, as well as teaching other adults at Lewis’s Ultimate Dance Complex on Valleybrook Road. (Read both their stories.)

Maybe for you the way to banish boredom won’t be reclaiming a childhood dream like Karen Hogya, or starting a business like Romano and Lewis. But there are plenty of things you can do. Kathy Pattak, a Castle Shannon resident and former Physical Education teacher in Mt Lebanon, made up a whole bucket list for banishing summer ennui. (See the list.)

If that doesn’t do it for you, pick up a padded gel seat cover and join me on the bike trail. I am off to buy mine now—one less excuse for my bottom to back out of the trip. This whole excursion could be the beginning of a bad joke—“What is black and blue and sore all over?”—but I am pretty sure it won’t be boring.