Under Pressure
“The pressure you want and the pressure you need are two very different things.”
That is what a masseuse said to me about 9 days after I completed my first marathon and about 5 seconds before I started apologizing for my overdeveloped quads. I knew before he said it that it was true, though. So much of life is seeking to avoid pain and discomfort, but then we go and ruin it all by saying something stupid like “yeah, I’ll run that marathon,” or “Give me that job outside of my comfort zone,” or “I love you…so where does that leave us?”
We sharpen our skills against the whetstone of adversity and, more often than not, we’re better for it. We can call it a necessity to hone our skills or an obligation to make ourselves available to the needs of others, but what it is is the human experience. We are set upon by challenges and weighed down by the pressures of our daily lives in every waking moment. The trick seems not to be the alleviation of this compounding pressure, but our learning to appreciate it. Learning to dance with it. Inviting it in and getting to know it. Maybe even learning to love it.
“And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under Pressure”
I like to think; “When the going gets tough the tough take a breath… and maybe an Ativan.” Because the pressures of day-to-day life are lingering in the shadows of every perfectly curated existence you see on social media and in the minds of each person you pass on the street. So how do we deal with it? What makes it all worth it?
For me, it’s classic rock. Nothing seems entirely too insurmountable when I hitch my life to a curated soundtrack of Britrock, Americana Rock ‘n’ Roll, Golden Oldies, and some Bubblegum Pop thrown in for good measure. So, here’s a little account of my self-care when I’m able to cram it into my daily life.
I like to remind myself every once in a while that the terror of knowing what this world is about is always going to be lurking, and more joy is derived from shouting, “Let me in” than from shouting, “Let me out.*”
*With all due respect to the good friends of Freddy and Dave, of course.