What
are you doing?
Binging
a television show on your favorite streaming service? Watching
sports? Reading a book? Working in the yard?
What
do you do to get away?
I
occasionally wonder about people and what they do for relaxation,
or whatever you wish to consider as separating from the hectic
with a calm breath. After all, it’s a fair distance between reading
a book, running a few miles, binge watching a season of streaming
content and weeding the entire garden. It never ceases to amaze
me how different people can be, with the tastes they favor and
the scenarios they find enjoyable and… well… meditative.
Breaking
out the lawn mower is not necessarily my idea of thoughtless peace
and harmony. Yet I have several friends that not only change the
blades on their mower twice per season, they sharpen them after
every use. (Yes, every use.) They know down to precise
minutes of operation when to change oil, clean filters and replace
spark plugs. I have known them not to spend a handful of hours
working on their lawn, but rather to invest almost every day off
completely into landscaping issues around the house from the first
waking moments until the sun sets. They tell me they do it to
get away. They claim it’s not a chore in the sense of an awful
to-do, but rather a way to truly escape from everything else for
a bit.
Other
friends of mine are fanatical about exercise. I don’t mean they
work out regularly and eat right. I mean they keep journals of
their activities, adhere to strict diets, and get downright cranky
about anything that doesn’t allow them to ride their bike, put
on their running shoes, or visit the gym every day. They too,
insist this is stepping away from routine for them.
Change
the Netflix password or hide the Kindle of some other friends
at the risk of your health and safety. They know exact release
times of upcoming shows (not just dates, but the time they will
be available on those dates), or have preset reading lists for
the next dozen or so titles they intend to read.
Does
any of this connect with you? Maybe you love cooking. Perhaps
finding the time to spend in your home workshop building something
brings you enjoyment. Could be that you just crave logging in,
sending e-mails to friends and scrolling around social media sites.
Regardless
of what, I’m guessing there’s something you enjoy that when you
don’t get it, everything feels slightly off. Something seems to
be missing. Something isn’t complete.
My
wife refers to most of these things as the stuff to do because
she doesn’t want to think. That might be about as good a direction
as you could go with a summary. Though I’m not sure it’s entirely
accurate.
I
spent the vast majority of lawn mowing adventures in my life using
a push mower. Only at our current home did I add a ride on mower
to the process. And while I don’t consider spending time on the
thing a tremendous thrill that never gets old, there is something
that borders on the edge of mindlessly escaping. I have to pay
attention to things. I do have to think. But when I’m out there
mowing the lawn, I don’t hear my phone and I don’t have any other
chores to prioritize. Just me, riding in big circles, ducking
when I come around to that tree.
I’ve
always said that I know I’m enjoying a book when I’m turning pages
and flying past chapter after chapter without noticing I’m turning
pages or the passing of time. Maybe there’s something to this
yardwork after all. (I suppose I should plan on changing the oil
of the mower next week.)