I’m not going to lie to you fine people (And why would I? If you’re reading this, even if you’ve stumbled upon it looking for funny GIFs of weight lifting gone wrong, or thought there might be REAL science going on here, or are a presently-unknown-to-me archenemy who is plotting some kind of stealth attack on my physical person or mental health or up-until-now spotless reputation, you’re a fine person simply for reading these words, and are thus worthy of the truth):
For the past couple of weeks or so, I’ve not “felt it” when it has come to blogging.
Or ANY kind of writing for that matter.
Do you ever get that way?
It really stinks because I felt like I was getting into a “groove.” A second-rate “groove,” but a groove nonetheless.
It doesn’t feel like writer’s block, exactly, just a lack of energy, a lethargy of sorts. No doubt some (or most) of it stems from a recent lack of sleep due to parenting challenges (can I get an “Amen!” or a “Preach, my brother!” or at least a “Lord, break out the MELATONIN!!”), coupled with a very busy work week, my wife starting a new job, and the start of the school year.
(YIKES – listed like that, it’s no wonder! I need to stop now, grab a whiskey sour Sleepytime Tea and get a few hours of solid mostly uninterrupted sleep rest.)
Do you experience this, where the energy to do what you love (or even stay vertical past 6 pm) seems to escape you?
Anyway, we just this week visited the Kentucky State Fair (which I now realize I left out of my “reasons for lethargy” list = Fail). While I’m sure I COULD muster the enthusiasm to document that trip, I’m quite certain it would look more or less like what I posted to Facebook last year, which is copied below. (I did muster the energy to include a photo from THIS year’s excursion, as it really captures the “mood.”)
Thanks for reading, and for being Fine People.
Dateline Kentucky State Fair:
Despite all of my many, MANY personal strengths (humility, the ability to will my bald spot to stop expanding, a superhuman tolerance for sugar), I have a few weaknesses as well. Among those is the fact that I apparently have no public walking rhythm.
When I’m out walking in a public place, especially amongst a crowd, I feel like I have to be laser-focused on my next move, trying to judge the proper trajectory of my own person and the persons within my field of vision (as well as potential lurkers-around-corners). Otherwise, there is great risk that I could plow into someone else or some object that might be destroyed should a grown man hit it at walking speed.
And despite my ever-laudable efforts, I seem to always manage to bump, brush and/or jostle someone. OR I find myself wedged into some corner, standing wide-eyed next to an overflowing trash can looking for an opportunity to merge back into the stream of traffic.
All of which makes events like the State Fair a stressful experience for folks like me.
Perhaps it’s the fact that I grew up in the dawn of video gaming, but it truly feels, in those moments, like I’m living out some kind of game where you simply have to get from Point A to Somewhere Beyond Point A.
As the minutes tick by, the difficulty in maneuvering increases, and simple goals, like getting my son to the restroom before he pees himself (aka the mission where they saddle you with a disgruntled sidekick and send you through the crowd of smokers-in-wheelchairs, which, BTW, should officially be added as a part of the state flag), become real challenges.
At the literal end of the day, as in gaming, win or lose, pee-pants or no pee-pants, you get no actual prize, just the “satisfaction” of knowing that you paid actual money to do something that actually isn’t all that fun.
And then in about a year, you look back at the experience with a great sense of joyful nostalgia, and heartily volunteer to do it again.*
(Note: Next year, it’s a Hoveround and Marlboros for me – seems the safest way to go.)**
*PS: One-Year-Later Phil here reminding you that we did, in fact, do it all again, thinking it would be different. Somehow.
**PPS: One-Year-Later Phil, again. I flaked out and “walked with my family” and “did not smoke.” My follow through is second-rate for sure.
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