Distractions

Last night I dreamt that Dara, Robert, and I lived together. It’s relevant-ish. This dream was a mash-up of our conversations.

I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and for some reason I knew Dara was in my room. I yelled out to her to get out of my bed “…because I know you’re in there!” She then yelled something at me and slammed a door. All the while, Robert is sitting in his “game room” (which in real life is his workout room), on a bean bag chair. The mind-blowing part of the dream is that he was playing some game on an XBox. This dude doesn’t play video games. Anything else could have happened in this dream, but none of it would be as odd as him playing video games.

I come out of the kitchen and go into the game room, and I tell Robert if he wants to eat dinner, he has to stop playing his game and help in the kitchen. He puts the control down, points at me, and says “Dear (air quote) insert name here (air quote), I don’t care.”

So according that sentence, I’m living with a 28-year-old who acts like a 7-year-old. It also makes no sense.

Dara comes downstairs and graces us with her presence, talking about making art. Robert starts telling her he wants more drawings of bicycles and for some reason it really set Dara off. I think in my dream she’s in a really bad place because she’s so hostile. She threw cookies at Robert. He started yelling “Defend me, Brooke!”

And then suddenly we're sitting around the kitchen table, enjoying dinner, and I’m pretty sure some early 1990s, family sitcom music started playing.

I'm not sure what any of that dream meant except that maybe the three of us should never be roommates or we resolve ignorant conflicts very well.   

I Digress.  

The weekend starts in under six hours and I believe I'm going to put some trails under my feet, if the weather cooperates.  My two favorite times of the year are right now and the fall.  The temperature is perfect.  It's not too hot, it's not too cold.  All you need is a light jacket.

I know yesterday was April 25...  

I just want to be outside.  Fair skin and all.  Grab my Jack London short stories and sit in the woods.  Who knows?  I'm not going to do that, but I will clear my mind of all distractions at some point.  

Distractions.

I'm positive that in another lifetime (if there were other lifetimes), I was crowned Queen of Distractions.  I've had to go back and change how many hours until the weekend starts once already.

It's not just while writing.  Sure, I'll be writing a blog and maybe I'll see that I have an email (non-work related).  So I of course check that email, which leads me to respond to the email.  Which may remind me of an article I’d wanted to read. Which, halfway through, I decide I have to tell others about, so I go to Twitter and Facebook to share it, and then I’ve gone and disappeared down the rabbit hole.

Blog post completely forgotten about until I’m closing out my windows at the end of the day and find it buried under other half-read articles.

Just a moment ago I was reading an interesting article while I was eating a snack and in the middle of a sentence — a sentence! — I got up and went back tot he kitchen.
Totally and completly distracted.

It’s hard to get distracted on the trail.  I'm no ultra-runner, but whatever.  Running allows me to focus and do just one thing for a prescribed amount of time and get into a zone.

My mind wanders as my legs push forward, exploring everything or nothing. It doesn’t matter. Some of my best ideas come to me when I’m running. I’m not sure if it’s the time or the motion that helps the most, but after these past months of not running as much and not feeling very creative, I’m going to put my money on the physical motion being a big part of it.

Running gives me clarity. It gives me strength and a sense of peace.

What gives you that clarity and balance in the world?