It is the year 2016 and
once again We the People must endure
another contentious election cycle in the race for the White House. I find it particularly disturbing this time
around as the theme seems to be grown adults fighting with each other as if
they are on a grade school playground.
No matter the political ideology you will find: name-calling, finger
pointing, and even pouting.
This childish behavior has pushed
Americans to the point of fist fighting during political rallies. I am not here to make commentary, but rather
to highlight the fact that this nonsense is heaping more stress on an already
stressed-out nation. Who do we
trust? Will this be a choice of the
lesser of two evils? Ugh!!! It just boggles my mind and begs the
question- What does one do to remain balanced?
My thoughts now turn to the Neon Road.
The song titled Neon Road appeared on
singer-songwriter John Stewart’s 1997 album titled Rough Sketches. The lyrics
pay homage to the once great American highway known as Route 66- aka Will
Rogers Highway or the Main Street of America (2015). Route 66 once stretched from Chicago to Santa
Monica, California for a total of 2,448 miles (2015). In the song, Stewart evokes memories of
contentious or controversial (stress-inducing) times in American history, such
as WWII:
“It
was 1945 and we were living through the war. In the words of Harry Truman,
“Give’em hell, then give’em more”.
It is interesting to note what the narrator
of this story did to reduce his stress levels.
He jumped into his Fairlane with the top down and cruised the open road
with a care free attitude looking for that simpler way of living. My mind now transports me back to the summer
of 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. I was
stationed at Fort Irwin- 40 miles outside of Barstow, California. Believe me when I tell you that it was very
stressful- day after day, waiting to find out if my number would be called to
the Middle East. I had become way too
familiar with insomnia, and I think all during that time did as well.
As it would happen, Main Street (old Route
66) ran right through the middle of Barstow and out into the open air of the
Mojave Desert. Many times I found myself
jumping into my Geo Metro with the 2-60 air conditioning (roll down the two
windows and go 60 miles per hour), and drove 30 miles to Victorville just to
spend the day at a mall. The round trip
was well worth the time, as the anxiety I felt just melted away. I always look back fondly on those days in
Barstow where I truly learned to be of independent means.
Getting back to our present day conundrum-
Stewart aptly wrote in reference to the days after WWII:
“We
had honor, we had promise, we had dreams of better days. Yeah, but somewhere in the short strokes, we
got lost along the way.”
From where I sit, we as a
nation still seem to be lost and really need to find our way back to when we
were truly united in the cause of humanity.
In the grand scheme of things, most of what will happen this political
season is out of our control, and destiny has already been shaped. It is during times such as these that our
spirits can be shaken, but that should not deter us from remaining grounded to
Mother Earth.
Not everyone will have the opportunity to
travel on what was once Route 66 to use the experience as a stress-reducing
agent. However, find something you enjoy
(be it exercise, a day at the beach, watching the sunset) that can create the
illusion of the top down on an old Fairlane, and take solace on your own
version of the Neon Road.
In Health and Wellness,
Tim
References
U.S.
Route 66. Retrieved
from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66
on May 21st, 2015.
Lyrics to Neon Road. Retrieved from http://bitemyfoot.org.uk/songtabs/Neon%20Road.html
on May 21st, 2015.
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