Musings on Maundering

Maybe it was my maniacal reading of ‘Committed’ (Elizabeth Gilbert of the ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ fame). I’m not ready to take long lusty trips to third world nations.

            In the interim I go for long rambling walks. I move those large muscle groups in hopes of getting that most dull muscle between my ears going. I am accompanied by my new cell phone and my old Ipod. Today was an excursion to jar my creative juices and instead I got something more.

Here’s a little secret about me you gotta know: I break writing blocks while walking and listening to music. When I need to get into my character’s character I listen to music to catch the timbre in their voice. The Ipod was set on shuffle and landed on ‘Let’s Dance’.

Sigh. David Bowie is NOTHING like my main male character.

But an involuntary PowerPoint presentation began in my head.

The Australian landscape from the 1983 video popped on. Suddenly I was recollecting everything Australian:  My tribal art class at Cal Poly Pomona. Mutant Message Down Under. Walkabout. Business As Usual By Men At Work (the first LP I ever bought). A recent Vice Magazine article citing the woes of the Australian environment tormented by climate change. All of it segued into the realization that I turn 40 this year.

It is time to tan my hide. Let my blonde hair go dark. Kick off my shoes and go to Australia. Now there’s a birthday present!

 Of course I’m not sure how my significant other will absorb the need for a month long odyssey to the other side of the world. Neither of us have the funds or the passports to get us there yet. I’m not sure about a 20 hour flight either.

So I ask, is this a reasonable decision to make? Or am I in the midst a mid life crisis given the assumption I will live to be 80, since I’m turning 40?

Shit, I don’t know! But I have a feeling more will be revealed.

Excuse me while I switch on my Ipod and go for a walk....