A vacation for the mind

The other night we watched the ZZ Top documentary 'That Little Ol' Band From Texas.' I thought it was great. The music, the interviews, the history of the band...

There was one line from Frank Beard, the drummer, that caught my ear. He was talking about the first big paycheck they got. Each of the band members got a $72,000 check, and he said he spent every cent of his on drugs. He fondly recalled injecting LSD, and said he also loved heroin. He said it was like "a vacation for the mind."

I admit, I briefly thought to myself, "That's exactly what I want! Maybe I should get some heroin!" Of course, I know better. I'm much too poor to be a drug addict. It was also the prospect of heroin a few decades back that brought me to my senses and started me on a path to sobriety. Yet... the idea of a vacation for the mind has stuck with me the past couple days.

I believe this is the point of meditation. Maybe even of people who spend great amounts of time dedicated to reading fiction. And, I think, for me at least, this is why I run. While I say I do it for the exercise, I'd say it is much more a mental thing for me than it is physical.

I don't particularly like to run. Each step is drudgery, actually. That is, when I'm thinking about it. It's that elusive 'runners high' that makes it worthwhile though. That point where you forget that you're even running. Your mind goes somewhere else. To your 'vacation spot' maybe. Not with a mental image, but... somewhere 'other.'

I thought about this Sunday as I did my run. I spend most of my time counting my breath. Three out and two in. In sync with my steps. I don't always make a point to think about it, but when I do, it becomes meditation.

So, I'm going to start thinking of it as my mental vacation. I suppose it's better than starting up a heroin habit.

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Luke 21:34
"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap."