I guess it's that time again.
I've dyed my hair purple, I'm planning on getting some new ink as soon as finances allow and maybe getting my long-lost nostril piercing redone. I went for a drive Sunday afternoon out to the far side of the Shenandoah Valley, and the temptation to just keep going over the mountains and towards the Pacific was very, very strong. A few weeks ago I did something completely out of character for me in recent years, and it was good and it was fun and it frankly surprised the hell out of me for a whole host of reasons.
At least once a year, usually in the spring or summer, I get this overwhelming feeling that I need to do something different and shake my life up a little bit. Generally I keep any actions based on that feeling limited to doing something small, like picking a hair color from the Crayola box, because honestly I'm not terribly comfortable with large-scale change. I like stability, I like knowing what to expect most days. Sometimes though "the usual" bores me and I just want to step outside that comfort zone a bit, or perhaps even a lot. I think about going out and meeting random new people. I think about getting more visible ink. I think about taking a month off and driving across the country with a copy of Roadside America and no particular plan other than stopping at random cheesy roadside attractions. I think about signing up for the Mongol Rally. I think about quitting my job (although I have too much debt to be able to do that anytime soon). I think about picking up and moving to Boulder, or to Paris. I've thought in the past that maybe I should break up with everyone and be single for a while. (To those of you I'm dating, don't worry; this wasn't at all recent.) Am I going to do any of that? Probably not, other than maybe meet new people and get a wrist piece. I think even if I did pick up and move across the country or across the Atlantic, I'd still get restless in the spring.
At least once a year, usually in the spring or summer, I get this overwhelming feeling that I need to do something different and shake my life up a little bit. Generally I keep any actions based on that feeling limited to doing something small, like picking a hair color from the Crayola box, because honestly I'm not terribly comfortable with large-scale change. I like stability, I like knowing what to expect most days. Sometimes though "the usual" bores me and I just want to step outside that comfort zone a bit, or perhaps even a lot. I think about going out and meeting random new people. I think about getting more visible ink. I think about taking a month off and driving across the country with a copy of Roadside America and no particular plan other than stopping at random cheesy roadside attractions. I think about signing up for the Mongol Rally. I think about quitting my job (although I have too much debt to be able to do that anytime soon). I think about picking up and moving to Boulder, or to Paris. I've thought in the past that maybe I should break up with everyone and be single for a while. (To those of you I'm dating, don't worry; this wasn't at all recent.) Am I going to do any of that? Probably not, other than maybe meet new people and get a wrist piece. I think even if I did pick up and move across the country or across the Atlantic, I'd still get restless in the spring.