I never meant to cause you trouble

Sometimes I just need a walk in the woods to clear up the constant clutter that flutters through my brain like a commercial, like an infomercial that seems endless in the night. The guy trying to sell the Bowflex, you know the guy with the pony tail who never stops exercising? He does the Bowflex, the elliptical, while we are sitting on our asses staring at the man who is exercising. Yet, for some reason, we are compelled to watch, to stare into oblivion for a time. It's nice to get out and erase that, change the channel from the oblivion for awhile.

It's nice to go for a drive. To roll the windows down, blast the music, soar along the (open) highway, racing towards the sunset, everything else in life on hold. Sometimes my life gets overwhelming, and it's nice to just step back--while moving forward. That's kinda life though. I can be standing completely still, but there are still a million things going on in my brain. While I sleep, my eyes are moving constantly, randomly, out of my control. Yet during the day, how many moments do we get to perpetually force ourselves into motion, while at the same time halting all of the overwhelming thoughts going on in our brains? Not too often, in my opinion.

Sometimes it's just nice to listen to a song, and not worry about anything else that's going on. Like right now, I'm sitting on a futon in my guest room, a disgustingly pale green color permeating the walls, the light from the broken lamp-shaded lamp shining in my eyes, Comedy Central muted on the TV, window open, barely any sounds outside, and I can't stop listening to "Trouble" by Coldplay, a song I just rediscovered on an old friend's myspace page. It's nice to harmlessly put the mind at ease, something done all too often in all too harmful ways--drugs, alcohol, other addictions. Yet there are saving graces, like nature, like music, the little parts of life that serve as life's stress ball. I haven't really seen the stress ball lately. Was there a significant phase in this country where people were buying and using stress balls to relieve stress? It's amazing that this period has come and gone, and begs the question--what are people doing nowadays to reduce stress? I think it's important to know what your stress ball is. I think I know what mine is...I guess I'll just keep squeezing til I find out.