Song: Theme From The Valley Of The Dolls
Artist: Dionne Warwick
We had a snow storm blow through a few days ago.
Another snow storm is supposed to move in later tonight.
The roads were plowed...
so on this night...
I went on a short ride to Sunset Court in hopes of seeing a beautiful sunset.
(My sister decided to follow me in the car...
as she was afraid it might begin to storm)
And so...
I sat on my trike for forty five minutes...
hoping colors would develop in an opening in the abundant amount of clouds.
Although things hadn't developed the way I had hoped...
I still loved the exercise...
and the sweet feeling of being toasty warm in my snow suit
as the brisk and building storm winds blew.
(A look at California through the Sierra Nevadas towards Donner's Pass...
the entry point of so many storms for Reno)
But, most of all...
I love the sweet solitude that being out in inclement weather naturally brings.
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As a young child...
I had always loved sitting on a street corner during storms while dressed in my rain suit.
The streets were empty...
and I had a small transistor radio that I listened to while I waited
for lightening to streak its way across the sky.
Some of my favorite memories as a young child revolves around
my solo adventures as I walked for miles along a nearby river bank...
just being lost in my thoughts...
and later as a teenager when I would get up an hour before dawn before school...
so I could jog along that same river bank in the dark...
so on the way back...
I could see the sunrise over the mountains
as I smelled the fragrant ripening of tomatoes in the large expanse of tomato fields
which lay before the sunrise.
The rising mists from the fields...
at first...
had a surreal blueish glow as dawn approached...
and then often glowed a deep amber as the sun peeked over the mountains.
Those were magical times.
My point is...
Solitude is a treasure to cherish.
It is a time where we may dream of our future...
and where we may codify past events to extract life lessons to use as a guide for our future.
It is a time where our imagination is developed.
As I walked along endless miles of riverbank in solitude as a young child...
I not only noticed the world around me...
my mind would wander as I entertained myself with the movies of the mind.
Whole dramatic and highly emotionally charged movies would play
as I watched in my mind's eye...
which of course...
centered around me on some great adventure...
and with some lovely young woman gazing at me with loving eyes
after my having saved her from evil.
You know...
the typical dream of young boys.
The mind abores a vacuum.
It constantly seeks stimulation...
and one of two things usually happens when there is a void of stimuli:
It seeks distraction...
or...
it creates its own stimuli.
Far too many people allow the void to drive them to distraction.
Especially nowadays...
a vast amount of entertainment is at our fingertips...
and so...
the mind is never allowed to fill its void through its own imagination.
Reading used to be another way to stimulate the imagination...
(especially fiction / fantasy novels)
as what you read was automatically converted into a movie of the mind...
with its own distinctive flavor.
I not only love solitude...
I absolutely crave it.
I simply must have at least several hours a day.
I am not anti social...
except around obnoxiously loud and rude people...
which in America...
seems to be the norm.
But even around good people...
I can only take so much small talk.
However...
I love debating interesting topics...
so long as it comes to a conclusion through which
something new is learned...
or taught.
While I no longer dream of slaying dragons...
my preferred inner world consists of possible futures...
of things I would like to accomplish...
of things I would love to experience...
and the deep emotional stimulation I get when I am there in my possible future...
and, of course...
the endless movies of the mind from which my stories are derived.
Music is so often the progenitor of my movies of the mind.
This is why I love music and writing so much.
I love writing out the movies of my mind
so others may experience them as do I.
The ultimate freedom may be found in our own minds.
We create the surroundings we wish to live in...
and through our visions of the future...
we align our real life in the here and now...
to match our dreams of the future as closely as possible.
And so...
our dreams become our new reality.
It is through solitude and inspirational surroundings
that our imagination is stimulated...
and is even much further enhanced by heavy exercise.
That is why triking is so valuable.
It gives the senior citizen the freedom to get out into the great outdoors...
while giving great exercise...
solitude...
and with these...
you will have everything in place to let your imagination
play exceptionally dramatic scenes...
complete with a symphonic orchestral sound track.
As you get into a steady pedaling rhythm
on a meandering forested mountain path with snowcapped
distant mountain tops peeking through the breaks in the trees...
all the while breathing deeply...the pine scented air
as a gentle breeze welcomes you in its cool embrace...
your mind will naturally associate the present serenity
with other serene times in your life...
and of serene visions of possible futures.
It is in these times that you will discover your creative passions in life.
Extremely moving musical pieces you had once heard in your life...
the main instrument that causes your heart to cry and your soul to reverberate...
that is the instrument you are destined to learn to play.
This is why the expression that the instrument picks you...
had come about.
This is a creative passion which will lead you to love life at a much deeper level...
and which will lead you to a serenity you had never before experienced.
This is just one example.
In conclusion...
it is through the outer journey of triking
that can lead you into an inner journey of serenity...
or at the very least...
the exercise alone will greatly negate perceived pain...
while greatly enhancing and amplifying pleasure in everything...
absolutely everything.
