How Do You Keep Your Wild Streak?

A trusted counselor recently suggested that I explore my adventurous side. Me? Really? I’ve always thought of myself as very adventurous. But you know, the truth is, over the years I have held my desires and impulses in check, which is probably not a bad idea, given some of the “decisions”, (can we even call them that?) I made in my 20s. You get older, you start caring a lot more about security. You hold it down; keep yourself reigned in, stay firmly on the ground. Then, pretty soon, you wonder where your spontaneity went.

I’m fifty six years old. Over the past two years I’ve had a horrendous bout with vertigo, a frozen shoulder, a joint that needs replacing in my big toe and more than a few knee problems. Let’s just say my body is not what it once was. I’ve worked the same job for ten plus years, lived in the same place for almost fifteen years, (can it be?) and been happily married to the same man for over seventeen. I don’t want to change any of these things. I love the structure of my life. It holds me, keeps me rooted in myself and in God.

But I have a wild streak. Always have. It’s a definite hallmark of the Crouse family from whence I sprung. I’ve been wondering lately about how I pay attention to that part of me. How do I give her air time? How do I let little pockets of it out in a safe and healthy way?  Here are some of my ideas:

·         Go see live music, preferably loud, raucous rock and roll.

·         Wear what you want.

·         Stop to watch the hawks fly.

·         Pray a lot with yourself and others. I recently heard about praying on the floor, prostrate, that intrigues me . . . I’m pretty sure that the wildest part of me is connected to God.

·         Put the top down on a cold day and turn up the heat.

·         Go skiing.

·         Live in Oaktown or Baltimore or Brooklyn. (I don’t understand my fascination with this last city, never even been there, perhaps it’s the Avett Brothers?)

·         Read books about mountain climbers.

·         Read Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

·         Stay on top of the Mavericks situation. (big wave surfing)

·         Go to the movies at midnight.

·         Go to Point Reyes (or elsewhere) and walk under the open sky. Do this a lot.

·         Go out and get really cold – or really hot.

·         The exhilarating feeling of letting go.

·         Change your hair. (maybe)

·         Wear a leather jacket with a dressy skirt.

·         Read the Rolling Stone.

·         Keep learning.

·         Tell the truth with no intent to harm.

·         Get up with the dawn and go somewhere new.

·         Eat and drink a lot of chocolate.

·         Power walk with your IPOD - recent play list: (unabashedly 70’s) 

o   Sweet Home Chicago – Eric Clapton and BB King

o   Second Hand News – Fleetwood Mac

o   Rough Justice – Rolling Stones

o   Farther Along – Flying Burrito Brothers

o   Heads in Georgia - JJ Cale and Eric Clapton

o   Throwing Stones – Grateful Dead

o   Mama Kin – Aerosmith

o   Write Me a Few of Your Lines – Bonnie Raitt

o   Bring it on Home – Led Zeppelin

o   On Your Way Down – Little Feat

o   Throwing Stones – Grateful Dead (had to hear it again)

·         Go to cafes, sip hot chocolate and write.

·         Go to Paris as often as the pocketbook allows.

Dear reader, how do you keep it wild?