Outside Yourself

I was thinking earlier today about one of the dumbest things I have ever done. It was one of those moments where a childhood memory slips into your mind for some reason. I am never sure why or how these memories come to me, but they come, sporadically. I was thinking about the time when I was in first grade playing with my good buddy from down the block, Matt Ariano, whom some of you might remember. My parents had just bought a new refrigerator and had left the cardboard box that it was delivered in on our driveway. I assume it was left there so we could play with it/ in it. Although much of the experience is blurry in my mind, I recall Matt climbing into the box and me pushing it to an upright position so he couldn't get out. I then started throwing things into the box on top of Matt to joke around with him. I threw in a basketball, the newspaper sitting on the driveway, a bunch of rags sitting in our garage.

Being a young kid, I then let my imagination get the best of me. I vividly recall believing I was in a cartoon. I suddenly felt like nothing could hurt Matt and I could throw anything I wanted into the box, like he was a cartoon character and I could throw in a kitchen sink and it would bounce off his head after going "boink." Basically, I lost it. I completely ignored reality and put myself into my own fantasy land. I picked up a heavy metal shovel that was sitting in the garage and tossed it in. It cracked Matt in the forehead and he had to get eight stiches. I had literally taken myself out of reality and had let my mind wander into a land of cartoons and kitchen sinks where there are no consequences to dangerous actions. I don't remember being reprimanded or even feeling bad about what I had done.

I think everyone has imagined flipping out while at school or at work at one time or another. Sitting there in class and thinking, I wonder what it would be like if I ripped off my shirt, started screaming, and starting throwing things around the classroom. Do people ever actually go through with these extreme thoughts? I think it happens everyone once in a while.

Recently, as I have been crusing the highways of southern California, I have found myself completely removed from reality. With the music high and the sun low I have once again experienced the feeling of my imagination running wild and forgetting about my real life and what truly exists. It is refreshing to feel that way again. It can be difficult to imagine as an adult the same way you imagined as a young child, but it feels like such a natural and healthy thing to do.......as long as you aren't throwing metal shovels at people.