This Blog is Not Yet Rated #9: Somewhere Only We Know
- By Tom Hoeler
- Published 05/28/2009
Tom Hoeler
Tom grew up in a small town in Connecticut where there was nothing to do but go to the movies. And go to the movies he did. Since his birth in 1987, scientists estimate he has seen over 1 trillion films; but this number is considered a gross underestimation since his whereabouts were unknown from 1992-1996. When not confining himself to a theater Tom can be found in front of his television or playing video games. Rumors are abound that Tom has friends, but no published reports corroborating these rumors exist. Somewhere lost in all of this; Tom has found time to attend Bentley University and is dangerously close to being given a bachelor’s degree in accounting. It is unclear how he has pulled this off. Tom can also be found as a reviewer on movie-vault.com and at his film blog: filmphantom.wordpress.com.
I decided that I needed to start numbering these things.
Partially because it helps to keep me organized. Partially because other people
do it and it seems like a good idea. So yea, that's why I've gone with the
elongated titles.
Last week I went to a family beach house in New York. It’s a nice place; small
out of the way of the rest of the world; but not quite far enough that it’s in
the middle of nowhere. Life is exceedingly simpler there. The house doesn't
have Internet access, the cell reception is spotty at best, and we get 6
channels on the television (on a good day).
I think we all need a place like that. A place that is far away from the world,
in more ways than one, and lets us recharge. I'm not trying to paint a picture
of us going back to a "better time" before technology ruined out
lives. I mean really, I'm writing on a laptop, on a blog, on the Internet,
using a wireless network. I think the train has left the station as far as
technology being part of our lives is concerned.
Getting back to the beach. Sitting outside in the evening, sipping on a
beverage, feeling the breeze blow off the ocean I couldn’t help but feel
revitalized. And it had nothing to do with the beach itself. It was because of
the abject silence and solitude that comes with getting away.
We all need a place like that. The geography of the location isn’t important. Be it beach, or forest, lake, swamp, tundra, or even desert. It just needs to provide us with a little bit of peace, a little serenity. You’ll find when the rest of the world is quiet, that’s when your mind is most free to speak for itself. When you have a chance to churn through all the issues and obligations that weigh us down from day to day. It’s like cleaning out your email inbox. All those messages that were left unreplied to or unread. You get rid of all of those and get to start fresh.
I don’t think we do that enough. Instead we are content to let things build up and up always saying that we’ll get to it eventually. But eventually never comes.
I can’t wait for my next trip to the beach. Not because of the beautiful sky, the smell of the sea air, or even the relaxation. I can’t wait for the silence. I can’t wait for just a few moments to work on me. It’ll be spectacular. If you can, try it. You’ll learn to love it. I guarantee.
