Life can be so predicatable. It is what helps us feel secure, right? Yet, if my last post and the comments are any indication….many of us secretly wish for a bit of impulsivity and even chaos. When life is staid and calm, it feels safer. We feel safer. It is not so scary. But…..where is the juice? Humans are equipped with this fascinating system called the autonomic nervous system. Adrenaline. The fight-flight-fright complex. When we were hunters and gatherers, this mechanism served us well. I would be thankful for a massive bust of adrenaline is I had to fight a bear or a pack of wolves. But, there is no modern, industrial world equivalent of hunting and gathering. Road rage does not count! So, when we get the massive burst of adrenaline, how do we disperse it (besides destroying the local grocery store)?
I think we swallow it. We eat it. We drink it. We bottle it up. Maybe we run or cycle or go to the gun range. I think some people ride motorcycles or fly airplanes. They eat fear and actively seek challenges that are a little scary and get their adrenaline up. I like rollercoasters. Some people watch horror films. But life is just as deadly as it has always been, but it is so removed and sterilized, especially for the economically blessed. Homogenized suburbia does not get challenged except with situations like hurricanes or Columbines.
So how do you feel alive? Are we left to have Dandee white bread experiences? Where is the thrill? Where is the fear? Where is the mountain to climb? Owning your existence means slaying the dragons, scaling the wall, felling the tree, crossing the river, stepping into the pitch. can we face our fears and grab the monster’s tail.
What a rush!
….or just walk by him in the darkness then knowing you were close enough to kill your enemy and didn’t. What strength!