Stretching

I woke up feeling envious of Stretch Armstrong. He was an old action figure I had as a kid except his arms and legs were made out rubber so you could stretch them seemingly infinitely.

There is something so enticing about having the range of motion to stretch far and wide. My legs and back are sore from a long weekend of moving and something tells me they are due for a nice long stretch.

Some nights I wish I was like Mr. Potato Head and could remove my limbs. My arms get in the way while I sleep. Can’t quite feel comfortable as a human.

I wonder when humans became aware of their limitations, their bodies’ deep connection to gravity, and the general design flaws. It must have been part of the greater awareness.

The physical informs the mental. My mental has been on the uptick. I am trying to redefine my stiff muscles as a representation of my strength. Hopefully it sticks.

A good cracked back and then I would be free. I just cracked my leg. Glorious.

Sometimes, I think of myself as a Sim – with hundreds of little bars I need to maintain rather than 8. Maybe that’s giving me too much credit. Maybe the point is to simplify.

Digging too deep into the specifics can burn you. That becomes a game of control. You have to remember you can’t predict that much, so just generally trying to be comfortable is better than specifically fixing that little creak in your neck. Until that creak becomes worse.

So my legs and back are sore. But my arms and shoulders feel nice. It could be worse. Spend all day thinking about what’s wrong, acutely aware of our limitations, and then everything is dark. No hope in sight.

Put things in a general bucket and all of a sudden there’s a general optimism. A general hope.

Going to work on that. Until I can stretch my legs in any direction, 40+ feet out.