Outpace Your Ghosts

As you get older, you develop and collect hang-ups. Everyone does this, no one is impervious, and I think it may be a function of our biological bodies. Like it is written in our hands and across our corpus. I have come up with a general stratagem to outpace these hang-ups, these ghosts. And it has been my theme song for, at least, the last half decade: movement is life. What follows isn’t an epiphany nor an exhaustive dissertation. What I write today merely serves as a reminder to myself.

It's better to have movement and faith in your inherent steadiness. Acknowledge that hang-ups exist but without fixation. Rest is as critical as production and activity. And my body and intuition heal and build more than is obvious.

The last part, the restful part is tricky for me because my mind never shuts off. My endless appetite for information makes this trickier. The media and these devices capitalize on this. I see what you're doing, I don't like it, but ok why not...

Boredom is a kind of exercise. And so is the effort of writing. So these are both good things. Any tolerance for tedium is a gift. (And boredom alongside writing are certainly tedious.)

To outpace my ghosts, I can’t wade too long in memories and nostalgia. Sentimentality is weight. It pulls me down into an abyss of self chatter, echoing. I must concern myself with tasks and tend to them before they become burdens. Before these tasks, unkempt, develop fodder for different and new echoes. Make adjustments so my mind is present, and leaning forward.

At most times, it doesn’t take much movement to outpace my ghosts. But, if I sit still for too long, the notion of motion becomes prohibitive. Idleness becomes a mist that enwraps and swallows me whole.