(what I hear myself think!)
[This page is meant to be dynamic, updating regularly as I add the new thoughts that I hope to explore (on this page and elsewhere).]
Syndicated newspaper columnist Sydney Harris (based in Chicago) used to write regular columns about “Things I (he) learned while looking up other things.” Similarly, Pittsburgh’s own Phil Musick used to write columns titled “Things I Think I Think.” (Phil was initially a great sportswriter who later in his career turned into a syndicated general-interest-story columnist. He was a Pittsburgh institution, having had stints writing for both of the city’s newspapers, the Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Press. Man, I miss him!)
Anyway, I’d like to call this post “Writing to hear myself think.”
The idea for what follows goes back to something I casually mentioned to my wife when we first met in 1997. She told me how much she enjoyed reading the emails we shared. I told her thanks, and at the time (fancying myself as a writer in my professional life), I took it as a compliment. The emails we exchanged were generally stream-of-consciousness things, talking about anything and everything I encountered as I lived my (mostly mundane) life.
I never really got to do this kind of explorational writing in my job since my work projects always involved writing marketing, PR, and promotional (but always essentially factuality-based — always accentuating the positive!) ads, brochures, and articles for small businesses, banks, and corporate clients.
So, with that long-winded introduction out of the way, I hope you might find a little entertainment from some of the thoughts I’ll be “sharing” here …
Floating away
I recently got to enjoy a luxurious one-hour float session at True Rest Float Spa (for a second time!), and a bunch of thoughts came to mind that I’d like to share.
If you’re not familiar with the concept, “floating” involves getting into a pod that’s about 7′ x 8′ and filled with a saltwater-like solution to about a depth of 10-12″. (I’ve also seen the pods called “sensory deprivation tanks” but I think a true sensory deprivation tank is even more confining than what I experienced.) The air and float solution are warmed to about body temperature for comfort, and the solution is super buoyant, so your body only semi-submerges, allowing you to lay out completely on the surface of the water – a halo-style head pillow is also available (recommended) to help keep your head and ears above the water line.
The pod has stereo speakers built into one side, and the friendly staff offers to pipe in your choice of music. Or, you can hook up your own phone and play whatever audio you choose from it. That’s my preferred audio accompaniment.
Quick aside: I recently assembled a meditative 6-hour Apple Music playlist that is all acoustic and live performances from some of my favorite bands and performers. My list (I call it “Acoustic Bliss”) is super eclectic and moody, with (mostly) intimate and stripped-down performances from a world of diverse artists like Pink, Billie Eilish, and Dashboard Confessional, to classic rockers like Aerosmith, Nirvana, Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains.
To imagine my playlist, think of the old “Unplugged” MTV series, which was my inspiration for creating it in the first place. I was also inspired by the recent “FireAid Fundraising” performances broadcast on YouTube.
So, for about one blissful hour, I got to just let myself totally and unconditionally relax.
They tell you to experiment with arm and leg positioning, spreading your legs, stretching out your torso and arms — and especially, carefully and deeply focusing on your breathing.
So that’s what I did!
I’m not sure I found my own, personal nirvana, but the floating was a pleasant experience.
Except, the thought occurred to me (especially as I slipped a little stepping out of the pod):
I’m not sure I match the demographic the spa really-and-truly wants to serve?
Getting into and out of the pod is not the easiest thing to do. There are no grab-bars, or railings, or other things (I dunno, padded steps?) to help those like me, who may not always feel certain of their balance or dexterity at all times (let alone those who are in much worse condition than me) … Next, the bench supplied for me to use while removing or replacing socks or changing seems better suited to a Zen catalog than for actually using … And then, after leaving the float room, the chairs that are meant to relax and recharge in (with wonderful nasal cannulas delivering gently fragranced oxygen), are exceptionally low (meaning they, too, take a little extra effort to get in and out of). So, as you hopefully understand, I found the setting outside the tank to be an atmosphere that says “waiting room” more than it does “relaxing in comfort” (if you catch my meaning).
That’s what makes me think: This place really wants young, lithesome, and agile clients, not an achy, arthritic, amiable-but-prone-to-grumpy-old-timer senior citizen like me!
I know, my review may seem nitpicky. I also realize the entire spa experience seems like pricey, super “new age-y” kind of stuff, but major civilizations and cultures have been using natural floating sources for therapy and recovery for millennia!
Places like the Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake (and even the oceans in lucky parts of the world) have watched humans gather where the water’s buoyancy (largely from its salt content) allows us to lay full-on-out on the surface with no fear of sinking.
Maybe, just maybe, that’s why major swaths of those cultures continue the Float experience regularly in their “worlds.”
I only wish my experience had been a touch more natural, and a whole lot easier to get in and out.
Other thoughts ‘n topics to write about…
I wish we were living in a lousy screenplay
Derek Thompson writes for The Atlantic and does not hold back:
Shortly after writing that Trump’s “policy is absurd,” Derek writes:
”…The most fitting analysis for this moment, however, does not come from
an economist or a financial researcher. It comes from the screenwriter
William Goldman, who pithily captured his industry’s lack of foresight
with one of the most famous aphorisms in Hollywood history:
“Nobody knows anything.”
I wish this moment had only come from some screwy, upside-down-world screenplay!
Alas, I’m more afraid that this is one of those moments that FDR invoked on March 4, 1933:
“… let me assert my firm belief that
the only thing we have to fear is fear itself
— nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror
which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.
In every dark hour of our national life
a leadership of frankness and vigor has met
with that understanding and support of the people themselves
which is essential to victory.
I am convinced that you will again
give that support to leadership in these critical days.”
I do hope to explore more about these trying times… [more to come]
Still more thoughts that I hope to write about…
– Thoughts on the definition of insanity phrase (you know the one, it’s the one you keep hearing because it sounds so deep, but is it(?)): “The definition of insanity is doing things the same way over and over, somehow expecting a different outcome” … it’s a topic I recently explored via AI (not so satisfactorily), so I need to see what kind of insight my own deep digging can acquire … [more to come]
– Thoughts on Narcicism/Narcissists … Are they really just individuals seeking appreciation and/or adulation? [more to come]
– Thoughts on the belief “America is/was/should be great because of the benevolence of its people, not the people’s over-reliance on accumulation, weapons, dominance, and destruction.” [Ezra Klein calls it “Abundance,” I believe?]
– Thoughts on trying to live a life as a believable observer. A good person, and someone who is genuinely curious, publicly congenial, socially and financially aware, compassionate, progressive-leaning (if not outright left wing(?), especially regarding social/sexual/women’s rights issues), and yet still a financially-conservative-minded (hopefully read more as “frugal and living-within-our-means” not miserly) introvert.
– Thoughts on oral history (family story times, personal conversations) versus journalistically-documented, erudite, and “proper” (and properly PR-influenced) textbook history… [I hope to deeply research and explain Lin Manuel Miranda’s prominent use of the saying “who lives, who dies, who tells your story” in his Hamilton lyrics as part of this essay, stay tuned] …