Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 87
ESCAPE Weekly
Jan. 22 - Jan. 28, 2010 – 12
Stomp a puddle today
And listen to the raindrops. They have something important to tell you.
I
After all, you play the Lotto, too, right?)
have a visual of what I vaguely remember as the
So now, many years later, what changes would that
start of a movie. The camera follows a raindrop
raindrop see in you?
down from the sky, amid myriad other drops
Back then, as a child, you grinned as the drop
falling, until it lands on ... Batman or somebody. The
who, and the what, and the movie are not important. ran over your nose. You tried to catch it on your
tongue and laughed when you missed. But you
It’s just that it occurs to me that the odds in favor of
didn’t mind. You knew there would be many more
any particular raindrop, in any particular rain storm,
being so lucky as to land on any particular person, say drops to play with over your lifetime — a lifetime
that was all ahead of you and all
me, are, well, infinitesimally small. You
glorious, infinite possibilities.
could aim a raindrop with a GPS/laserAnd you didn’t mind getting wet and
guided bombsight at a target a thousand
cold back then. When you got home
feet in diameter and, considering wind
your mother would grumble and act
and altitude and whatnot, it would most
perturbed, but then she would put you
likely miss.
in a hot tub and feed you and forgive you
So, is it all just random?
(and wash your clothes). The getting cold
I choose to think not.
and wet just made the warmth of home
(And, yes, I play the Lotto.)
that much more special.
As you step outside this week, try
Jim Walker
However, somewhere along the line,
thinking of those lucky raindrops that
Don’t Take Me Seriously
you stopped playing with those raindrops,
land on you as kindred spirits, brothers
didn’t you. You got preoccupied and
in the universe, so to speak, bonded to
you by ... I don’t know, destiny. Maybe they were sent weighed-down and dull. You started looking at the
road behind with regret and the road ahead with
to you for a reason — and all you have to do is figure
doubt. And you began to fear getting wet.
out what they have to share.
So if that drop found you today, it would probably
You know, besides making you wet and cold.
find you cranky and in a hurry and completely
And, what if, by some crazy combination of
oblivious to its message. The drop would be an
circumstances, one of those raindrops had actually
annoyance and, in fact, you would be trying to
fallen on you before !
avoid it altogether. You’d probably be rushing from
Why did it come back?
someplace you didn’t really want to be, to someplace
Maybe it’s because you wouldn’t listen the first
you had to be, for some reason you couldn’t
time, sailor.
remember. And your primary concern would be
But maybe your first encounter with the drop was
staying dry.
when you were a child — and you did listen.
The question is, are you happier now than you
Now, that raindrop has been on quite a journey
were back then?
since it hit you back then. It ran off your nose and
I think not.
dripped into water running in a gutter. Eventually,
But I have a cure.
it made it to the river, then to the ocean. It may
have been around the world, through countless
When you get home from work today, go out
evaporations, condensations and precipitations.
in the rain and try to catch drops on your tongue.
Maybe it even passed through a fish, if you know
Or, find a puddle and stomp it until you are soaked
what I mean.
through. If you can splash someone else when you
It comes to you again after innumerable amazing
stomp it, so much the better.
experiences — and yet, it is unchanged.
And don’t worry if it’s dark when you get home.
(And please don’t e-mail about a drop being a
In fact that might make it easier because no one will
see you.
random collection of water molecules that would
If you are lucky enough to have young children,
never stay together over time. We’re thinking on a
take them out in the rain with you. They will love it,
different plane here, OK? And anything is possible.
Metro Creative Connection
Remember how it felt to play in the rain? It’s time to do it again.
and you can blame it on them if someone catches you
acting like a fool. And don’t forget to plunk the kids
in the tub when you get back inside.
If you have a dog, take him out and the both of
you get as muddy as you can. Hose off when you get
home and then take a hot shower — with the dog.
There’s no law against it. If he’s small enough you can
stuff him in the clothes dryer afterward (kidding).
However you do it, the whole rain experience will
make you feel young again — and maybe put you in
touch with who you started out to be.
And maybe that’s what the raindrops have to tell
you. That you still have infinite possibilities.
Don’t worry about the odds.
The odds aren’t your problem.
