Brovic - Blogging Since 1903, On and Off
2.20.2012
On To Become
KHUK KHAK, Thailand - There are things you can try, things you could consider, and other things that are downright out of the question, probably for everybody. Everybody except those who say, 'I'll try anything once.' They would fall into that 1%, I think, the fringe. I think I fall not into that category, but close to it.
What about you? Surely, there are many things you haven't tried. Right? Right away, I think, 'sky-diving', thinking in Celsius, expeditions to anywhere beyond my comfort zone...golly, there's lot's of stuff I haven't done. I'll bet for you, too.
Whime I saying that? Well, part of it is knowing what's for you and what isn't, right? Like, maybe some folks are cooking something up, a scheme, a scam, an investment plan, a plot, a ploy, a play, a batch of meth, a cruise in the Bahamas, and ask if you want to go along, and you say something like, "Sure, I'm in," or, "No thanks. That's not for me."*
Maybe you're not in the situation where you'd even be given options during your daily track. You're not hanging out with no kind of heavy hitters, lightweights, or even your neighbors who ask you over for a cookout. Your energy is on a different track. Perhaps your plan for yourself is fairly routine, no bubbles, no speed bumps, no deviation from the mean.
Some people shouldn't be on a motorbike, for instance. Some people need to leave drugs entirely alone, especially chocolate and Facebook. Some people should stay away from casinos, video games, and the fridge. Some people feel perfectly comfortable where they already are, and don't need to go thrill-seeking, out dancing, out on a limb, out of town, or out of the house. I'm fine right here on this couch.
*
Never should have....been on the mound...t...started...joined up...listened to those guys. Should've left it, her, him, alone. Can you relate to any of that? Never shoulda...it's not necessarily a case of regret, if something was learned, but rather, finding out FOR SURE what is and isn't right for you. That can't happen unless you give it a try, right?
Sure didn't need to climb into the seat of the road grader, now, a decade later being cut up and sold for scrap. A nap or a smoke break was what was needed, just then, and already I knew heavy equipment and I don't see eye-to-eye. We're out of sync, incompatible. Wasn't cut out to be a heavy equipment operator. That's an example of, 'Sure, I'll drive it.' Same with the big tow truck. Big time screw-ups, both. "Ya Gotta Pop The Clutch!" Finally, the message sunk in; but it's not like I didn't try.
That's why when we needed to dig a launch canal to the Sea for the long-tailed boats being built at the boathouse, I was quick to jump up saying I had 'lots' of experience with BIG CAT diggers on tracks, in a sandbox, lemme on that sucker, I can figure out the levers an' shit once I'm in the seat.
Ain't nothing but a big Tonka Toy, right? a child's dream. What have you got? Forward. Backward. Right. Left. Spin. Scoop. Dump. How hard can it be? Fuuuun like a mug.
Well, there's a case of overcoming one's fear, and moving forward convincingly with supreme and utmost confidence, like on a motorbike in Phuket, a job interview, or up on the high wire, even though, even though, eeeeeven though you may be venturing into no man's land, a mine field, a snake pit, and might be scared shitless, like up there without a net, what I'm saying. Fly the thing!
*
Conformity. Nature likes conformity, like ants and bees, except when it doesn't, like snowflakes and galaxies. The kindergarten class photo. What will they go on to become? Despite difference of ethnicity, class, income, education, occupation, political and religious preference, will they venture anything, take any chances, bet the farm? Would they have order or chaos, the principled, people of conscience, no prisoners of fear, chasing myths and illusions, universal revolutionaries intent to change the world?
Well, what's that got to do with couches and road gra...?
Tell the story, threads of conversations, as if they're sitting there, try to weave it together into some kind of cohesive fashion, tell a joke, a tale, ask some questions, end it when it's over.
- end
*Mid-afternoon sun beating down on the dancers and the arbor. First round after the singer's lunch break. Someone was supposed to pull skulls. The preparatory markings would be on his back. "Who?" asked Kakwira, Tom's son. Tom, the lead dancer who was doing the piercing, squinted up and down the long line of men, then pointed, "Ivis." Kakwira trotted over, took Ivis by the sage wristlet and brought him to the tree. Holding the scalpel, Tom asked Ivis, "Are you ready to pull skulls?" Quite by surprise, and mistakenly selected, Ivis shook his head and said, "No!"
2.24.2012
