REARVIEW
The path I hiked on in the park opened up to a beautiful gazebo like shelter built on the edge of a cliff overlooking the river. I could see for miles. I was eye level with soaring birds. The majestic view took my breath away.
After three seconds I was ready to move on.
Three seconds! Three lousy, herky-jerky seconds, and I was ready to move on.
That's not a good sign, even though it is a sign of the times. Move fast and move forward.
We get edgy if we're not moving on to the next thing. That same famous petulant look on President Bush's mug during his first debate with Senator Kerry is the same look I get when I have to wait for a file to download.
I call it Fast Pace Nausea. And it's not healthy, when to pause and reflect, is against the grain of nature.
This excludes lovers.
The only ones sitting still in parks, enjoying the view, are lovers. They're governed by the sway of the moon, not the tick of the clock. While the rest of us, whose passions may still smolder but aren't quite white hot, have to-do lists that include Home Depot, buying snacks for school lunches, and sorting socks, lovers are guided by a simpler agenda that busy people eschew: Copping feels, and luscious views, from park benches.
So everybody gets busy. So everybody becomes immersed in jobs that grow demanding. So everybody gets to the point where, when they heard American Top 40 on the radio say, "That's the number one song?" We graduate from subservient entry level positions with one boss to mid-level positions with three bosses; from dumping a fortune into diapers to filling up the tank to chauffeuring the kids who grew out of diapers.
But here's the Catch-22.
Through it all, we become older, wiser and more savvy. But life comes at such a breakneck speed that we're afforded little time to reflect upon that wisdom. It's a riff off of the old saying, "youth is wasted on the young." The people who have the most time to reflect don't have much to reflect upon. On the other hand, we are at the age where we've put quite a dent in life's journey. But, knock on wood, there's plenty of road ahead.
Well, I find it unrewarding to live a life where I cannot reflect upon what I've learned. And I don't like acquiring a physiology that renders my mind and body so herky-jerky whenever I want to slow it down that I blast right past a beautiful view.
I want to be slow down and look a little.
Not in regret! God knows, I've looked back too much in regret, and it's a waste of time. Like James Taylor sings in "Traffic Jam": I almost had a heart attack, looking in the rear view mirror, I saw myself in the next car back, looking in the rear view mirror, 'bout to have a heart attack...
I'm not talking about looking back to see if anybody's nipping at my behind. I don't need to look back to know that.
That's what this column is all about. Downshifting and looking more often into the rear view mirror. Get a little perspective on where I've been to give a little more context to the next leg of the journey.
And maybe cop a feel on a park bench.
