The bottom line is everyone needs “a day.”
We all need a day when we can “cut class,” so-to-speak. What I mean is, we all need a time when we skip the daily routine and forget the grind and the responsibility of work or whatever the typical everyday routine is, and when at all possible, I say we need a day.
We need a day to enjoy the City. We need a day to sit outside of some restaurant and share food. We need to take a walk and people watch or enjoy the things that we used to love like finding a place to be a kid again and run around like we did when we were young.
I want to do this.
I want to get away, at least for a day. I want to have an adventure. I want to escape or exit the daily bullshit and avoid the everyday tragedies of work and work life or the dramatic incidents that come up with say, politics or who will be our next president. I want to put the problems on hold which, of course, will only suspend them for a moment. But at least we can have a moment to be wild again.
A sunny day would be a great thing. But don’t be upset if it rains because there’s still good things to do. Or maybe the best idea is to do nothing at all and just shut off the technology that connects us to the social world and we can cook, or we can order food, or we can watch a movie and let the rain fall. Nothing would mean anything, at least for a little while.
I want to escape. I want to get away.
I want to put the world on hold. I know, I get it. We have to get back to reality—but suppose I tell you that our fantasy is not only necessary—it’s lifesaving as well.
We need these things. Fantasies, I mean.
We need to have these little pods of breakaway moments and we need to soften the edges of the world by allowing ourselves the right to a momentary rebellion. We need this because this draws us to a certain reality which is that as tough as things are, there is a reason for “us” and there is a reason why we find ourselves where we are, which is here.
Then again, this is where we always find ourselves.
Here . . .
But just know that I want to play too. I want to be like it was when we were kids and we skipped out on school and played instead of working.
I think that the need to play and be wild is just as necessary and just as lifesaving. I think that regardless of our age and despite our levels of responsibility, we need to allow for a few moments when we choose to act like kids or decide to have an adventure, and we can go crazy, just to let off the steam and reduce the pressure of our everyday life. As a matter of fact, I think the more intense things become and the tougher life can be or the busier we get, the more we need a day like this.
I know that life can be intense. I know there are thoughts and ideas which pull us in different directions. I know about heartache. I know about love and loveless moments and the need or the want and the desire to live, and to love as hard as we can.
I know that life is not always easy, and neither are the choices that we need to make.
But I also know that deep within us are the heart and soul and yes, there is the child, or “the kid within,” and this kid needs to play every once in a while.
We need to honor this so we can make our dreams a priority.
We need a day.
Come to think of it . . .
I wonder—
What are the best memories of your life?
I wonder—
What was your best rebellion?
When was the last risk you took that was so worth it, regardless of the consequences?
What was it like to break the rules?
Or how about this . . .
What was it like allow yourself to be crazy or to have fun?
I have moments like this, which I hold close to me.
I have memories of when I allowed myself to put the world on hold and yes, I chose to disappear for a day.
I think about the song by Billy Joel when he sings, “Slow down you crazy child. You’re so ambitious for a juvenile. But if you’re so smart, then why are you so afraid?”
And I love the next verse too.
“Where’s the fire? What’s the hurry about. You better cool it off before you burn it out. You got so much to do but only so many hours in the day.”
I say this because there are times when I forget to hit the snooze button. I take too much to heart. I take everything too personally or too seriously.
I can’t think clearly because my thoughts are firing off in too many directions. Meanwhile, all I want is to feel “that” feeling which comes when the heart is content and the appetite is satisfied.
I get this.
I get the need to hit the snooze button.
I get the need to allow for a moment of personal indulgence and so, I think about the fleeting moments which come every day. I think about the clock which is always ticking and the question of “when are things going to get better?”
I don’t know the answer to this or to a lot of things, but I do know where my heart is.
At the end of the song, Joel sings, “And you know that when the truth is told that you can get what you want, or you can just get old. You’re gonna kick before you’re even halfway through—when will you realize, Vienna waits for you?
Why don’t you realize, Vienna waits for you?”
I’ve never been to Vienna. But I am willing.
I never went to a lot of places. But, have been to Venice Beach and I have been to places which trigger a memory that acts like some kind of lifesaving device.
I can’t forget to live. And that’s the problem.
We’re forgetting to live and to dream and to allow ourselves the right to scream or sing or to dance.
But more, I can’t forget to take the time to be happy. And neither can you.
I can’t forget the truth, which is “When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?”
Or in this case:
when will you realize that I wait for you?
Come to think of it,
When was the last time you went crazy?
When?
I say this has to happen.
Sooner rather than later.
The Written Addiction 