Monday, June 12, 2006

Back to basics.


I got really tired of just sitting on my ass waiting for my back to stop hurting, so I decided to get pro-active. My general doctor wasn't being very helpful, so I went to a physical therapist. She was a very nice and extremely pretty lady. After looking over my x-rays and asking me about my expectations, we worked out a plan for recovery and I am extremely psyched! We worked out for about an hour and a half today, and afterwards I didn't even have to take my regularly scheduled pain killers until about a half hour ago. It was awesome. I am doing great and I have a good feeling about this.

Its an interesting little work out regiment that she has me on. First I play in the pool for a half hour. Then she works me through these really odd stretches and positions for a half hour, and then more water sports! Its the rompin' stompin' livin' end! At first I felt ridiculous walking back and forth in this 5 foot pool of water. I wasn't swimming or jumping, I was just walking around and doing these odd leg exercises. I felt like a freakin senior citizen at the Y doing my "golden years" work out. After I was actually able to move around without this crippling pain down the right side of my body, I stopped caring! It was like magic water. The same happened with the stretching an odd positioning. I felt ridiculous, but then there was no more pain! I LOVE physical therapy!

I told Melinda, that was the physical therapist's name, that I was supposed to be in this really big surfing tournament in a little over a month. My goal is to be 100% in a few weeks so I can start strength training and surfing to win my tournament! My muscles have gone to hell ever since I stopped doing all forms of exercise! I have a long way to go before I can put on a decent performance on my surfboard.

All of the people that have commented on my last post and sent me emails on it have really made me see things clearly. I do not think that I am an activist that is going to go change the world, nor do I ever want to be that person. But I am a human being that deserves the right to be happy. I am going to live my life on my terms and I am not going to try and hide who I am. If that means that maybe I get outed one day, then whatever! By that time I am probably going to be okay with it.

I sat down with my aunts today for lunch. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I had lived with them for many years while my parents finished school, and they are lesbians. It was really nice. I wanted to tell them that I am gay, but I couldn't find the words. I think that I am always going to hate saying the actual words, "I'm gay.". It seems so unnecessary. SO basically I told them that I have been acting all crazy for the last few weeks and I am sorry about that. But I am pretty sure that if you think about it hard enough, you will figure out why. I'm not going to lie, only half of them got it. The other half had to be told. Then afterwards there were hugs and a few tears. No questions, because we are all family and we all have the same personality when it comes to questions about things like that, we'd just rather not. Then we went for brownies at my favorite bakery, "Jills Delicous Delights" or something like that... Anyway I had a fudge brownie topped with an inch thick layer of cookie dough! YUM!!! I already want another one! Even though I am still kind of dizzy from all the sugar of my previous brownie.

This is one of the very first things that I ever made in photoshop. I think that I did this on 7.0!!! Can you believe how things have changed since then!? Haha nevermind. This photo has sentimental value. There was nothing especially fancy going on with it. VERY BASIC! Just like everything else in my life at this point. I look at it now and its almost laughable at how lame it is! Its kind of like looking at a picture that you drew when you were 7. But I was so proud of it at the time. I am just hoping that maybe in 4 years I can look back at my life and totally just laugh at where I was. And be amazed with how far I have come.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

So you finally told your aunts!? That is so great! That must feel so good to finally have family know what is going on with you. This physical therapy is going to change your life! I am a strong believer in physical therapy to recover from injury! Pain killers do not do anything helpful except mask the pain. This pro active attitude of yours is going to take you far! I am on the fence with you picture. I get that its an early art piece, so it isn't as great as some of your newer stuff, but its still good. But I am thinking about it in terms of what I can do on photoshop. I think that you could draw better pictures on photoshop with your eyes closed than I could. SO anything that you do by default would just be better than ny stuff.

Anonymous said...

I want lesbians aunts! I am SO jealous! You had a hard time telling lesbians that you are gay? I don't really understand that, but whatever. Its cool that you are taking a new approach to things in your life and not just waiting for things to take care of themselves. I have to agree with everybody else. This picture that you made back when you were just learing photoshop is pretty good. You can totally tell that it isn't as good as your newer stuff, but you can also tell that you have talent that can not be taught in a class room! Congrats dude.

Marc said...

Finally! Some perspective. It seems like you are starting to deal with life in more manageable chunks. Life is so much more difficult to deal with when you try and take it on all at once.

That picture that you posted has absolutely none of your personality and when I saw it I didn't think that it was something that you had made. Than I read the end and it all made sense. This is "eric the early years.". hahaha. I definitely can see a difference in your style then and now. You have evolved a lot since then.

Anonymous said...

I love Jill's! That place is so freakin good! I would eat there every day if I wasn't deathly afraid of weighing 200+ lbs.!! I usually go there with my fag hag and we split an M&M Brownie and a soda! Its so much fun and its a sunday evening tradition for me! I love that place!

I hope that your whole physical therapy routine will help you get better! You have a tournament to win in a month! That picture looks kind of sad, I was wondering what was up with it, and then I read the end of your blog and I was like, "OH!". It really did not seem like something that I would usually see on your blog. And that is because it is early eric! haha. I feel like I know you better because of that whole Jill's thing! That place puts a smile on my face just thinking about it.

Anonymous said...

You are that guy that always jumps into everything that he does aren't you? I don't really picture you as a planner. I think that's a great thing, because if I were you I think taht I would have talked myself out of telling my family atleast a dozen times before I actually built up the confidence to do so.

Great job dude! Keep on truckin and what not.

Anonymous said...

Great job with your aunts! I'm glad that you said you aren't going to hide who you are; hell, paranoia is probably most of the reason for your grief. You *do* deserve the right to be happy! So be that way.

The "Care Deeply" got me at first. I thought it was a new miracle cure for your sciatica. But, like the others who have commented on it, I was greatly amused when you said it was done with Photoshop 7.0. Jeez! What talent!

One last thing. I've been checking on things for my dad's sciatica and came across www.spinalaid.com then called them and requested their DVD about spinal decompression (it's *not* traction). Supposedly it works with slipped, herniated, and compressed discs as well as sciatica. Perhaps you could ask your therapist if she's heard of it. I'm going to do some more checking on it and see if it'll help my dad. Just thought I'd pass it along for whatever good it might do.

Jet said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Jet said...

Eric, I'm preparing to do part two of my article on Gay Athletes and their struggles out of the closet. It will appear on the BlogCritics website as well as my own, and is watched by the hungry press.

Please let me know how the competition goes by posting a note on my sports article at my personal blog, and if you'd like to be included or not, I'd love a shot of you on a surf board, and another like the one I published of rugby star Ian Roberts in part one of my article.

sincerely
Jet