Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Last year was devoted to the wholesale acquisition of skills, a kick I thought I had gotten over, but if I give ’09 a cold, hard look, I don’t think things are going to be too different. It’s the way I like to operate, I guess, with my mind settling on something–be it a skill or an idea–and marinating, turning the one thing over every which way, soaking in all the delicious angles until I get it and it’s mine. You may think it’s a little strange, then, that I’m currently working on the ability to stop thinking.

I was stuck behind a car packed with old people the other day, crawling along at five below the speed limit, when it struck me: how exactly do you end up oblivious in the left lane on your way to the supermarket, head full of white, your first stop likely being the produce section, where you’ll molest every apple in sight before letting one rip? Why do the elderly appear to just not give a shit? They certainly seem content when they’re sampling grapes from every bunch within reach. I don’t believe it’s apathy so much as an ability to unplug mentally and simply cruise. This may be one secret to longer life.

Practically this boils down to telling my brain to shut up whenever I start mulling over something that’s not mullworthy. Now, understand I don’t completely blank out thereafter. I’m not sure I’d want that, in fact. It’s more a matter of dismissing the fluff quickly and moving onto more important things. Something tells me this skill will come in handy, now that the social plan has been set in motion. I put $30 toward it on Monday, in what may be my first show of monetary commitment to “hanging out” with “people” since arriving here. Community looms nigh, its terrible calculus closer than ever.