Personal Discoveries

I guess you could say I echo the sentiments of the season uttered by my friends and esteemed colleagues at 200lb Man and One Million Reasons. Winter in general has a way of bringing me down. My theory is that February is just that point in the season when our subconscious says enough is enough!, and our moods stage their full-on rebellion. I've been there... am there. In light of that, I've done some soul-searching over the past couple of days, and have actually come across a few discoveries.

First of all, I've discovered that I connect with God through nature. Part of my soul-searching took place over a three mile hike through the wilderness of Northern Indiana, and I can't begin to describe how soothing it was to my soul. Perhaps this is why the winter months take such a toll on me - I can't get outside as much as I'd like to. Nevertheless, I spent nearly two hours in the barren wilderness yesterday, and my spirits lifted. And by the way, I'm happy to report that on my trek through the woods I saw several woodland creatures, as well as a few bugs. I'm taking this as a positive sign that spring is here. Never mind the remnants of snow on the ground.

Second of all, I discovered that fire renews me. Maybe not in the literal sense, like fire renews gold. I haven't been burned by fire, or anything. But even now I'm sitting in front of a roaring blaze in a majestic stone fireplace, and the affect is inspiring. Watching the flames flicker and dance, it reminded me of the countless times I just felt the need to sit around a campsite and bask in the warmth of a fire, and how comforting it was. At this point, I'd like to point out to my mother that those years of playing with fire as a kid really have shaped me, and I now have a solid justification for my pyromaniac tendencies. This discovery also explained why I was so excited to get that fireplace DVD, being that our home lacks an actual fireplace. It has served us well through two winters, now.

Finally (for this blog, anyway), I've discovered the therapy of writing. This is primarily the reason for this post. I just finished a book in which the author posed this question: If you could retire right now with 10 million dollars, what would you do? My response: Live near water and spend my days writing. And just so we're clear, rivers don't qualify as water... at least not in my fantasy retirement scenario.

Well, there you have it. I know this might have been a startling departure from my typical prose, which has happened a lot lately. Don't get too used it... I'm sure I'll have more nonsense to share in the coming weeks. But I've gone on long enough, so I'll end this post now...

... though I actually had more to say.