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Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 81

June 6, 2020 //  by Tommy Hensel//  Leave a Comment

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Step by step.

As the weeks keep passing by, this new reality I am in has started to weigh more and more heavily on me. I have had ups and downs for the entire 11+ weeks of quarantine, but in the past two weeks or so the extremes have become – well – more extreme.

My ups have been relatively high and my downs have been frighteningly low. That makes the swings back and forth far more exhausting. Last week I hit a dramatic low point. Digging back out of that has been a difficult, but slow and steady process.

As the title of today’s post says, “Step by step.”

First, my back pain started to improve. That was step one. Then the weather took a turn for the better, with sunshine and manageable temperatures. Step two. Then I managed to get out of my house and spend a day at the Morton Arboretum to enjoy an actual day in nature. Step three.

Today, I was able to drive into the city and have an actual in-person fitting for the suit I had commissioned back in January. I drove downtown, found free parking, went to the shop and had a chance for actual, real, in person interaction with other human beings. Another step.

Tonight, I shook off my ennui and managed to cook a lovely meal for myself. I not only made a nice meal, but I plated it beautifully and broke out one of my nicer bottles of wine for a pairing. I deserve to pamper myself and I felt so much better after taking the time to create something tasty and beautiful. I am pasting in a photo below.

Side salad (green leaf lettuce, carrots, celery, olives, tahini dressing). Main course is Swordfish à la Marseillaise (sauce of tomato, caper, onion, garlic); steamed asparagus and cauliflower, both dressed with a lemon/butter/chive sauce. For dessert from a vanilla/lavender flan. I paired it all with a 2015 Château Haut-Beauséjour Saint-Estèphe.

This weekend has been a turning point for me. I have finally started to divest myself of some of the baggage I have been carrying throughout this quarantine. I am getting far better at focusing on the ‘now’ instead of projecting into potential futures. I am letting go of caring about what others might say or think about me. For several days, I have been almost entirely divorced from social media and it feels liberating.

Overall, I feel as though I am taking small but deliberate steps towards a more focused, positive, and enlightened lifestyle. I think that crisis sometimes can lead to positive change, and for my personal life this quarantine and everything else associated with it has catalyzed some deep introspection and some significant shifts in how I think about myself and about the world.

I am not sure where the journey is taking me, but I am focusing on each step in the moment and not worrying so much about the destination.

Step by step.

It’s only Quarantine if it comes from the Quarante province of France. Otherwise, it’s just Sparkling Isolation.

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Category: ThoughtsTag: Sparkling Isolation

About Tommy Hensel

Tommy Hensel is the Director of the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Moraine Valley Community College (www.morainevalley.edu/fpac), a position he has held since January 2008. A native of Columbia, South Carolina, he has worked for more than 35 years as a professional actor, singer, stage manager, director, and arts presenter. He holds a B.A. in music and a B.A. in communication from Florida State University and an M.A. in theater from the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as Chair of the Illinois Presenters Network and is a board member of NAPAMA. He served as co-chair of the 2018 Arts Midwest Conference and currently sits on the professional development committees of both NAPAMA and Arts Midwest.

Prior to his move to Chicago, Tommy was an 11-year resident of the Seacoast region of New Hampshire where he served as Executive Director of the Rochester Opera House and sat on several non-profit arts boards. He has served on grant review panels for the New England Foundation for the Arts, New Hampshire Arts Council, Vermont Arts Council, and Illinois Arts Council. During his years as an arts presenter, he has also served on the juried showcase panels for the Arts Midwest Conference and Performing Arts Exchange.

Among his many theater credits, Hensel was the founding artistic director of the Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival (now part of the Gamut Theatre Group in PA). He has over 50 professional directing credits to his name and an extensive resumé as a theatrical performer and cabaret singer. In Chicago, he has a side "gig" as a restaurant reviewer for The Local Tourist website (http://chicago.thelocaltourist.com) and blogs about travel and food at https://www.tableforoneplease.com.

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