I didn’t want to get off the bus this morning. A pretty girl smiled at me and somehow it reminded me of just how good life is and that we’re supposed to enjoy it, not lock ourselves away for 9 hours in a cubicle where no natural light penetrates, breathing recycled air and subjecting ourselves to the fake, dry atmosphere of air-conditioning. I just wanted to stay on the bus and see where it would take me. Okay, I knew where the bus was going, but I’m using the bus as a metaphor for the day, I guess. I didn’t want to follow the smiling girl. I just wanted to have an adventure. I haven’t had one of those for years.
I had some pretty strange dreams last night which is why I’m feeling a little bit weirded-out, I guess. I dreamt I was locked in a wooden cage. I could get out but I didn’t want to leave the others locked in cages near me behind. They were people I knew but their faces were blurred and unrecognisable. I tried to open theirs doors to help them escape but I couldn’t. Then I heard our captors coming so I got back in my cage. The captors were monstrous creatures but similarly without any discernable facial features. I woke up out of the dream at about 4 am, then lay there, not really wanting to go back to sleep because I didn’t want to go back to the same dream. The next thing I knew, it was time to get up for work. I felt so tired, like I’d been awake half the bloody night.
Usually, a nice shower and some breakfast, a little time admiring the morning bird life and a cuddle from Toni and/or Pumpkin is enough for me to shake off these sorts of feelings. Today, however, none of this worked. So getting on the bus, having a pretty girl smile at me and feeling like this reminded me of times when I’d felt like this previously and what I’d do to be rid of the feeling. I’d call in sick and have an adventure day.
An adventure could be lying in bed reading a book, a languid, late breakfast and then a movie or two in the afternoon. Or it could be jumping on a bus and spending the day exploring second hand book and record shops and finding some great bargains. It could be a train trip to the mountains, where I’d walk one of the national park trails, have lunch at an overly expensive café and catch a train back home. An adventure could be a sneaky day at the beach when it is just too hot to be anywhere else.
A good adventure day was something unplanned, unexpected and unshared. I know this sounds selfish but to have a true adventure day, I could only be by myself. This way, I only pleased myself. If I decided to go to the Zoo just to hang out at the elephant and monkey enclosure, I could. If all I wanted to do was ride the ferry to Manly and back, I could. If I wanted to spend the day in a comic shop, browsing for nothing for hours, I could. It is about doing anything and not have to worry about pleasing someone, anyone else. I could browse through music shops, trying guitars I couldn’t afford, go to the art gallery an only look at pieces I wanted to, or spend the afternoon watching trashy television. This is what a good adventure day is all about.
The fact is I haven’t felt like this for years because I’m very happy. When I was single and not so happy, or at least trying to figure out what it would take for me to be happy, adventure days were necessary. Not common but necessary. But even the happiest of us still get down, I guess. I’d almost forgotten about adventure days, so long has it been since I had one. The combination of a rough night, a pretty smile and a bus ride reminded me of them. The funny thing is I thought about doing it, really thought hard. Then I realised I had to be at work today. I had people relying on me to be there to get some jobs completed. To call in sick and have an adventure day knowing I’d let a bunch of folk down just didn’t sit right with me. So I got off the bus at my regular stop. The pretty girl smiled at me again as the bus took off.
I crossed the road, grabbed a cup of coffee and headed to my office. By the time I’d sat down at my desk, turned my computer on and greeted my colleagues, I was feeling much better. Just thinking about the old adventure days was all I needed to get past the blue spot and get my happy self back into shape and ready for the day.
That and an unsolicited smile from a pretty girl I don’t know.