So I Kick Push . . . Coast

About a week and a half ago, I took my camera and skateboard down the west side of Manhattan. I took some pictures and skated around. It was cold, fun, and relaxing.

Two nights prior to that evening, I had dinner with a girl whose parents were both psychologists. She was interesting. She seemed to be a keen observer and she had a deadpan humor. Her parents led dream interpretation seminars in her hometown. I asked her if her parents ever gave her a therapy session, how her parents disciplined her, and then I asked what advice her parents gave to people who either don’t dream or don’t remember their dreams.

She recounted one talk she had with her mom after her best friend decided not to be friends with her in 5th grade. I thought that story was really interesting.

Anyway, for whatever reason, that night I had a dream. It had been a long time. I was effortlessly skateboarding. It was how a kid might imagine popping tricks. A little flick of the ankles and suddenly I was launching in air landing slow motion rail slides, kick flips. There were even “chuuuuuuu” sounds that kids make to mimic skateboarding.

The sensations I experienced in the dream reminded me of a poem I clipped from a magazine many many years ago. I’ll try to find it for a later post.

Work’s been feeling oppressive. And I’m feeling either lobotomized or restless from the nicotine withdrawal. Mood swings. I’ll either be really upbeat, static and numb, or melancholy. Mainly, I’m annoyed at myself that I’ve been smoking for this long.

Kyle gave me my first cigarette in high school, a Camel wide. It was nasty. I promised I’d never touch one again. My second one was given to me after college during my first winter in China. I was feeling down and self-destructive.

Maybe it’s a combination of the withdrawal and my lack of purpose at work that the skateboarding in my dream was so fun. It harked back to simpler times and offered some sort of physical exercise. The next morning it seemed a good way to climb out of a mental rut. So I kick pushed around town.

I’m going to look for more of these in the next few months, but instead of doing something I’ve done before, I’ll look for chances to learn something new that is coupled with physical activity.