Whirling dervish, thy name is M2, Esq.

Seems I am always on the go. At warp speed. With no slow down in sight. I will usually run amuck until I collapse and then proceed to sleep for 24 consecutive hours.  Living my life at Mach 9 takes effort. I rarely have down time … and if I do, I actually make an effort to fill in those gaps. I hate being bored more than I hate being tired. I’ll rest when I’m dead.

The only time that I ever put the brakes on is when I’m home visiting my parents. Things move pretty slowly around the Mackie household.  Occasionally, my Dad will shake things up a bit by taking TWO naps in one day. My mom has been known to stay in her “housecoat” (a fluffy, oversized, floor-length bathrobe) for several days in a row. When I come home, my world comes to a screeching halt. I find myself going to bed, unable to function, at 7:30pm. Truth be told, I start wrapping up my day when the streetlights come on. I might as well be living in an episode of “Little House on The Prairie”. My parents think I’m the laziest person God ever created.  They’ll ask me to do little tasks or menial chores around the house to help them out. It never happens. From the nano-second I walk in the door, I feel like I’m suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning … and I mean that in the best way possible.

The only time I’ve felt a complete sense of calm in my life was several years ago over the holidays. I remember several things about that night. For one, it was 85 degrees below zero outside … one of the harshest cold snaps Iowa had ever seen. The wind was snarling outside, but the house was ridiculously toasty warm. I remember my folks had put up their faux-flocked tree and draped it with colorful lights. I had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up about 2am (something I never do).  When I came to, I had this overwhelming sense of serenity and peace. It’s like nothing I had ever experienced before, or after.  All my senses were tingling. Mom had either forgotten to blow out a candle or had some potpourri in the house, so the house even smelled like Xmas. I curled up there and watched the twinkling display of lights on the tree for about an hour … in total bliss.  No agendas. No deadlines. No appointments. Just me and Christmas keeping it real.

I’ve desperately tried to attain that state of ecstasy since then. No luck. If nirvana is out there, I doubt I stumble across it any time soon.  But hopefully it’ll find me again.