Mental... The Non-Medicated Kind

Yesterday, I braved the streets with all the crazed shoppers looking to save a buck.  Thankfully (for the economy), Christmas has lost it's meaning and is nothing but a lesson in advertising ploys and free enterprise.  There are a few snowflakes bobbing around out there, but not enough to make me run out there and prance through them (fortunately for the neighbors).  I have nothing to do today, so I will probably have to finally go into the garage and clean up my landscaping stuff this morning (since I didn't do it the last 4 days).  Now that it's 31 degrees out, it won't be as fun, like that was a possibility to begin with.

I watched Eat Pray Love last night on DVD.  Much of it was as expected;  Julia Roberts running around in a sensible shoe through a few countries with great scenery and a penchant for eating food and not caring if she gets fat, looking for the answers, a man and a good coffee.  And while that is enough already for me to relate (it practically sounds like a normal Saturday afternoon for me), the concentration on finding herself after being lost in a world that she didn't want to be in rang true for me.  I've been on a journey after hitting rock bottom in Vegas a few years ago.  And while I didn't travel to India to meditate in a temple, I have done some work on myself.  I don't think that we'll every totally get there since we're always going to be a work in progress, but it feels good to be able to recognize an unhappiness, be honest with myself and do the work.  As a result, I am in a better place, although not totally Utopian... and I have some more work to do.  My friend Michael has found Buddism, and I may look into some of it's teachings, especially the meditation and clearing the mind parts, which would be beneficial for me since I am so mental (not the white coat, padded room kind (although some of my friends would beg to differ))... rather, the kind where I'm always in my head.  I miss so much of the world by being in there (and there's no air conditioning and a musky smell).  And while I could use a trek around the world to find myself, I don't think I'm anywhere out there.  Sadly, I'm right here and not going anywhere.  Maybe I could hang my issues right up next to the rakes in the garage.