Abandoned Draft Version:
c symphonies neesum dorma bnl Food … can control it ‘drugs Smoking .. 40 yo smoker Exercises … ed and mcdonalds
Present Day:
Any guesses? Anyone? I think I was mulling over all the things people do to control their bodies and moods with outside stimuli.
- Symphonies can perk your mood or destroy you, which is an odd thing to pay money for.
- The aria Neesum Dorma can give you goosebumps and make you cry.
- Barenaked Ladies can reset your brain instantly (to a happier time when carefree people left the house and enjoyed themselves).
- Pie can give your heart peace, just like (one would assume) heroin. This is my drug of choice. I tell myself I can control it. (This was drafted 15 pounds ago, before I chose to deal with the pandemic with Pie Therapy. (I’m back on the wagon after my Banana Bread slip-up.))
- Smoking — I had just heard from a friend that his mother took up smoking at the age of 40. I said, “Oh, you mean she told you about her life-long smoking habit at 40.” Nope, he insists she decided to become a smoker at 40. I wonder if she replaced pie with tobacco, because I can’t imagine that scenario any other way.
- Finally, there was a very stressful day when a friend, Ed, saw me walk in to work with a six-course McDonalds meal in a bag, took a long drag on his cigarette, and commented how unhealthy my choices were.
I suppose I meant to expound on how we all jack with our guts, our moods, our serotonin in our own ways. (Still, the supposed (mythical!) high from exercise is the least effective, least immediate, and of course is the one most universally approved.)
I should listen to more music and eat less pie.
5 responses to “Stop Me If I’ve Said This Before: coping mechanisms”
One guess about the 40 year old starting smoking: teenagers. (nicotene is pharmacologically active and has some effects on some things… just not all positive effects)
But yeah. That is a Weird Life Choice.
I do think exercise has multiple effects:
1. the immediate endorphins, which some people get and some people don’t and other people it depends on exactly what kind of exercise,
2. the longer-term physical effects of exercise (many and varied, although not all positive) and
3. the feeling-good-about-exercising psychological boost.
But yeah. For immediate satisfaction, many things have exercise beat out solid. Including pie and good music.
I have recently rediscovered the smile-Inducing simple joy of listening to Take On Me by a-ha. Maybe helps that I’m a fan of all things Norwegian, but still. A propos of that, give Norsemen a whirl on Netflix.
KC – Nope, her children (including my co-worker) were in their mid twenties. Excellent deduction, though.
Big Dot – not just an excellent pop song, but a terrific art-based video. And I just saw this on Genius.com (best lyric site ever: it’s like having a concordance for lyrics).
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“Take on me” literally translated to Norwegian (a-ha’s native language, though they perform in English) as “Ta på meg.” This is how you say “Touch me” in Norwegian.
“Take me on” / “Ta meg på” means “put me on” (like clothing).
The bilingual nature of the first line offers dual meanings: “Give me a chance!” and “Touch me,” in the first; and “Take me on,” (colloquially meaning, “I’ll fight you,” or “I’ll accept your challenge,”) and “Wear me.”
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And my god, the description for Norsemen made me laugh. That sounds good.
That’s a good website, thanks – I often need to be led by the hand through the trackless jungle of song lyrics (also modern poetry – and me an Eng Lit graduate: deeply shaming).
Big Dot – I don’t even try Modern poetry.