Mental Hygiene Tip From The Ruminator

At least they're not playing video games -- even if only for a few hours.

My brain tends to ruminate. Once it falls into a rut it can't be shut off. Sometimes I truly suffer for this, like when the song "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill implanted itself from brief exposure to a grocery store soundtrack.

There are advantages to being wired this way. I still have the ability to concentrate on projects of considerable length.

The best way to shut off the endless tapeloop in my head is to spend time outside. It's not that important what I do, something about being out in the open eventually breaks through my junked up software to restore a sense of calm.

I want to pass on this wisdom to my kids, for I can see that one of them has already shown similar tendencies. But as was the case with me when I was younger, outside was a place to rage and run amok, not the sanctuary for the senses I now embrace.

I must accept that as a parent not every lesson will be received, or if it does I may have to wait 40-plus years. In the meantime, the little creeps still have to go outside every now and then just because the Dad says they have to.