Mental Musical Chairs

It is the job of the human spirit to direct the atten­tion of the mind. A lazy spirit will relin­quish its role and let the mind drift into a down­ward spi­ral of men­tal musi­cal chairs. The sub­jects become fewer; the same tune drones on; the cir­cle gets smaller and smaller. With­out a lit­tle work, the mind will begin act­ing like the twenty-four hour news cycle — two or three sub­jects repeated over, and over, and over, and over…

Have you thought about the Grand Canyon lately? How about Aus­tralia? When is the last time you perused a Russ­ian novel? How long has it been since you had a truly unique experience?

Left unad­justed, life will nar­row down to very few rou­tine per­cep­tions and even fewer philo­soph­i­cal per­spec­tives. Com­fort zones go from look­ing like couches to feel­ing like cas­kets. The box you cre­ate in which to feel secure begins to have a lid that locks from the outside.

Young chil­dren need a bal­ance of rou­tine and nov­elty. Older chil­dren need the same. I guess you could say that young adults need that for­mula as well. Guess what — so do older chil­dren reach­ing retire­ment age and beyond! How long has it been since you went some­where you have never been before? (on pur­pose that is)

There are no new dis­cov­er­ies in the same old places. Men­tal musi­cal chairs always ends the same way — obsess­ing on your job, or your prob­lem child, or a new wrin­kle, or on an old slight. When you see the chairs begin­ning to dis­ap­pear, it is time to find a new game. Your spirit needs some exer­cise. Con­sider an oppos­ing view. Imag­ine being some­one else. Pick a new vaca­tion place using a lot­tery sys­tem (des­ti­na­tions drawn from a hat).

It is one thing to be in a rut, it is quite another to dis­cover that the rut makes a cir­cle. Any­one up for a trip to Vegas? Outer space is nice this time of year. There is a small table for two at a side­walk cafe in a small town in Den­mark with your name on it. You will find new friends wait­ing for you there.