Off the Beaten Path

For several weeks now, the signs have been up, warning us that construction was imminent and that traffic would be severely slowed. The signs even included a date, Monday, August 9th. Expect lane closures. Expect delays.

Monday, August 9th came and went without incident. Traffic has not really slowed, though there have been some intermittent lane closures. It was starting to seem that the Lite-Brites placed along the shoulders were tantamount to the bearded ones who stand on downtown corners with handmade signs warning of the apocalypse.

Friday morning, having fully learned to ignore the warnings, I turned onto an on ramp to hit the highway and go to work. I love this on ramp. It is a beautiful s-curve. It’s a tiny stretch of pavement that makes me want to keep my small German corner-carving car instead of swapping for something large enough to accommodate children, dogs, and luggage. Most people do not know how to take this on ramp. They over-steer and are forced to hit the brakes just before they merge onto the highway.

So I hang back. I turn onto the on ramp, but I don’t hit the gas pedal. I give the cars in front of me time to fumble their way into the second curve of the S. Then I punch it. I carve around the turn to the left, hugging it tightly but not following it completely around. As soon as I see the straight line between the curve to the left and that to the right, I straighten up and shoot into the second curve. Not only is the shortest distance between two points a straight line, this approach also allows me to accelerate constantly so that I’m fully up to merging speed when I arrive at the highway.

Logic aside, it’s just plain fun. There is nothing like the centripetal force that pulls one through corners.

Friday morning, I planned to follow that strategy, just as I do almost every morning. I was hanging back, waiting for the line of cars to herky-jerk onto the highway so I could punch it, when I noticed the cars were slowing. Lane closures had taken effect. Traffic was stopped. I was stopped on the on ramp. To my left was an off ramp. To the left of that off ramp is the local police department. Between me and that off ramp was a bit of mowed grass and dirt, no curbs, and no obstructions.

I checked for traffic coming off the highway, I made a decision, and I broke forth across that grass and onto the off ramp, away from the glut.

One of the maxims from the Hagakure, a book I read frequently though I am not a samurai, states, “In the words of the ancients, one should make his decision within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break through to the other side.”

In other words, be decisive. Decisiveness was the founding spirit of Hidden Leaves, which is the English translation of the word ‘hagakure.’ In keeping with that decision, and fueled by Friday’s adventure, I have decided to seek a new path.

I haven’t been kicking this idea around for long. I really just started thinking about it after talking to a friend earlier. When you become too wedded to a path, to an idea, it is easy to become stale. You cease to become an individual and instead become a caricature. Friday morning, when I took that detour, the imagery was just too perfect to pass up, so I made a decision.

Over the past few weeks, my posts have become a little stale. I’m trending close to caricature status. The fisking of Professor Foxy was fun, but the relationship stuff and cougar hunting is growing tiresome. I’ve said it. Frequently. I have a search engine and archives. That stuff isn’t going away, but I want to take Hidden Leaves in a new direction. Less relationship advice, more tips for better living. Cocktails, art, music, poetry, beauty, these things shall remain, but I’m going to stop complaining just to complain. I’m only going to offer anecdotes from my life when they are particularly entertaining. I’m not going to force it just to fit a mold I forced myself into.

When I turned around Friday morning, I knew exactly what path I would take. The reason I knew this is because I once spent well over an hour being lost as fuck between my work and my house. I didn’t have a map handy and I knew I could take the curvy back roads to get home. I just didn’t know which curvy back roads to take. But I persevered and I figured it out. Now, I sometimes drive those less traveled roads just because the scenery is nicer than the highway.

I’m taking a similar approach with Hidden Leaves. No map, no definite plan, just a loose sense of direction. To this end, all rules and bets are off. If you have a post in you, send it along. Submissions are welcome. If you’ve thought about becoming a blogger yourself, but don’t want to go to the trouble of trying to build it, contact me, I’m open to partnerships. Have some fiction or poetry you want published, I’m not that heavily trafficked but I can get you a bit of exposure. If you want to form a collective and start something entirely new, I’m amenable to that too. Perhaps there’s a chance I’m already working on something in that direction. In any case, the time has come to break forth across the divider and chart a new course. No barriers, no rigid pathways, no self-imposed obstacles. Tally-ho, it’s off the beaten path I go. It should be an interesting ride.