roller coasters

Life is a funny roller coaster. Unlike a roller coaster, the dips are less fun and more terrifying because we often can't see where the track levels out. The ride up isn't the exciting part, the opposite of life as well. That's the most excruciatingly boring part, until finally at the precipice, the car speeds up and gives you a shot of adrenaline.

I suppose an optimist would look at life's roller coaster as such, with a better outlook on the overall picture. A pessimist would view the ride more like an actual roller coaster for someone that doesn't like to ride them. On the way up, wondering when the bottom will fall out; back down again, heart racing, terrified of the outcome. The optimist will take it all in stride. Enjoy the ride up, not worried about the top. Look ahead on the way down, knowing it's going to level out eventually so you can catch your breath.

Where does this metaphor come from? Life lately has been a roller coaster ride. From the dizzying heights of my roller coaster ride, I thought life couldn't get much better. Friends at work, new friends to climb with, blissful relationship. Then the stresses piled on and on. Destaffed. Traumatic spondylithiosis. Migraines. Hunting for a new apartment.

Just like that, the cars leveled off at the bottom of the hill, took a barrel roll, and began their climb back up to normal. New job transfer accomplished, apartment settled for next year, climbing to destress, taking time to breathe and snap some photos. Give and take. It's a wonderful ride.

almost poetic

I just finished reading Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. I started reading it during my month-long traveling bender. It rekindled the same itchy feet syndrome first diagnosed by Jack Kerouac and nearly cured by an ill-fated attempt to live overseas. This time, however, in Pirsig's wandering tale of a cross country motorcycle trip intertwined with a past borne of insanity and ancient Greek philosophy, my life circumstances changed considerably. Oddly, so too did the book.

During the course of my reading, she and I made that whole "getting married" thing official, I logged about 10,000 miles of air travel, got attacked by a macaw, lost my job (technically, destaffed, but let's call it what it is), and started trying to get this bum back of mine fixed. I thought it rather fitting the way the book ended. So, if I may quote the last paragraph, "'Tis a far, far better thing...."

Wait, that's not right.

Ahem. Here it is:

Trials never end, of course. Unhappiness and misfortune are bound to occur as long as people live, but there is a feeling now, that was not here before, and is not just on the surface of things, but penetrates all the way through: We've won it. It's going to get better now. You can sort of tell these things.

For all the stresses of my life past, and those to come, I know this to be true. Words truer were never written, nor at a better time for me to read them in a 35 year old classic.

faith restored?

i finally got around to checking my home voicemail. [yes, i have a landline.] four messages. cringing as usual because of collection agencies after someone named david. i generally don't answer toll-free numbers on the caller ID. anyhow...

message one. lady from sprint. they got my complaint i filed with the better business bureau. please call back.

message two. same lady from sprint. they received my payment, charges were valid, account is closed, no reporting to collection agencies. please call back.

message three. same lady from sprint. she's requesting that the $224.22 i paid as the early termination fee be refunded. should be here in 7-10 business days. please call back. (she's persistent!)

i'll wait with bated breath for that check to arrive. when it clears, consider my faith restored in one american company. yes, i've learned from this experience. don't trust cellular companies, but if something goes wrong, make enough noise that they hear you. i wonder how many of the 1,000,000 subscribers they lost in the last quarter got the same response.

changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes

i never gave much thought to how true this title is. life is good. few things lacking. friendships forming. familiar strangers are many. all it took was moving about 10 degrees north in latitude.

"yesterday's over my shoulder, so i can't look back for too long. there's just too much to see waiting in front of me, and i know that i just can't go wrong."