Unicycles and Other Shanigans (Not a Story, btw)

I told myself I wasn’t going to do the blog thing.  I was going to post stories and that was it.  Everyone and their grandmothers does the blog thing. 

But then my story output started to slow…

And my posts became less frequent…

So you know what? 

Screw it.

In between stories I’m gonna post whatever the hell I want.  Read it.  Don’t read it.  Point is, it’s going up.  And if someone somewhere gets some inspiration or enjoyment out of my mindless blabbering, rambling, and/or venting, then it’ll be more than worth it.

Hell, I write this stuff anyway and it just sits in my computer.

If Word Documents could gather dust, you could make little designs with your fingers in most of mine.

I was a weird kid. 

Okay, you got me – I am a weird kid. 

It’s not that I’m particularly fond of sucking jell-o through a straw or have some freaky fetish having to do with vanilla cream scented candles, just that I was never part the normal crowd that did normal things.  I always had some strange hobby I was pursuing with unusually relentless vigor, or an odd talent I was trying to master.  Typically these were little parlor tricks I found really really awesome for about a week, learned to do them decently well, and then moved on to the next one.  If you know me at all you understand what I mean.  For a while I was pretty into unicycle archery…

But just recently I think I discovered why I do these things, and why I get so into them.

They are distractions. 

These seemingly unimportant hobbies are secretly some of the most important things in my life, and, I believe, in anyone’s life.

Because, when I’m climbing or playing some instrument or balancing on a thin strip of bouncy material, that is all I’m doing. 

That’s it.

I am trying to keep my grip or figure out the next note or stay balanced.  Nothing more.  For that brief time, my mind is focused on those simple, straight forward tasks.  There is no ambiguity to what I have to do.  No real decisions.  No choices to make that have some greater impact outside of that moment.

And sometimes we need that.  We need that simplicity.

There is so much to think about in everyday life that, occasionally, when we feel cluttered or overwhelmed, we need to empty our minds of everything and anything and just paint or run or shoot something, just sweat a little, just surf or skate, or

“Just dance,” – [Lady Gaga, 2008]

Point is, hobbies are good.  They’re healthy.  We all tend to think a little too much anyway.  Sometimes you need to just pick something and do it.  Just that one thing.  Put aside an hour or two and focus on that one, seemingly unimportant task.  It can be something fun, or challenging, or anything you want, so long as you just do that one thing and nothing else.

Except unicycle archery.

That’s a little weird.