Get in the Damn Pool
how I managed not to freak out on my work trip
I just got back from seeing a production (the first!) of my play Hyannis at Loyola Marymount University in LA. It was a wild experience on multiple levels - in a good way! - but it was my first work trip since being diagnosed with ADHD. I was in a few situations and states of overwhelm that usually would have had me breathing into a bag in the corner somewhere or drinking heavily at the hotel bar. Medication was a game changer for this trip. I remained in one piece and didn’t have the normal baseline level of anxiety involved in these things, which meant I was able to focus and do my job. I was never drunk or hungover, and I managed to get sleep. I was able to take in and enjoy the experience - something that was harder for me to do before.
Whenever I travel someplace warm, if I am near a body of water or a swimming pool, I will be submerged for a fair amount of my trip. I have been known to drop off my stuff in a hotel room and run as fast as I can into the ocean/pool. Having a pool available to me is a bit of novelty for this New Yorker, since any hotel in New York that has a pool is a billiondy dollars and often insanely crowded. I was in residence at the lovely Hotel June, near Playa del Rey and the LMU campus, and this was my “office” for four days.
