no lights no lycra parramatta

Mid life blues (and No Lights No Lycra cure)

I am finding mid-life a bit hard.

If I stay up late, or drink too much, I pay for it for days (a major disincentive). Unfortunately, my traditional modes of fun-having often involve both.

And grown-up fun is thin on the ground. My husband works six days a week and is too tired to do anything when he’s at home. This, combined with the fact that we have radically different ideas about what constitutes fun, means that we don’t have much at all.

I hang out with my kiddo, who I adore, but he is three. He and I also have quite different ideas about what is fun, and we do what he likes because that’s how parenting works.

I live in the outer suburbs and work from home because I need to be around for my kid and it makes good sense to live near my husband’s lovely family. The downside of this is that it means I am at least an hour’s drive from so many of the activities (and people) I love.

This leaves me with endless dog walking, podcasts, books, social media and sneaking crime TV on my own.

Sometimes I go to the gym (which I hate) because I am overweight and I have spent my entire life trying – and failing – to make myself smaller.

But I don’t fit into this small life.

Q: Where did all the fun go? And how can I get it back?

A: No Lights No Lycra.

I’ve finally found something MAXIMUM fun, that doesn’t make me feel terrible the next day.

I first heard about it on Facebook, and then Celeste Barber’s character in The Letdown (who I identified with waaaaaay too much) started going to the Newtown NLNL in the show. I bookmarked it, and kept thinking, ‘Yep, I’ll get there eventually’.

And I finally did. Last night, I danced for a solid hour in an old-fashioned hall in Parramatta.

It was a revelation.

I used to dance anywhere, to anything. I was embarrassing to be around. I would dance in daggy pubs. I would dance in a sticky-floored clubs. I would dance at parties and weddings and dance classes. Dancing has always been one of my favourite things, and I just don’t do it anymore.

Like one night stands and shots, it’s a thing of the past.

Unlike one night stands and shots, I miss it terribly.

Until now.

So every Monday night you will find me busting out some questionable 90s doof moves in the safe darkness of No Lights No Lycra Parramatta here.

And if you, like me, miss your old fun self, come along and dance with her.

If you liked this post, you might also like this one where I endorse the concept of Mum-only holidays.



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