I hope you had a great Valentine’s Day. I can’t believe it’s already the middle of February; this year is already going by too fast! I think I’m getting “time hypnosis”, it’s kind of like highway hypnosis, you know when you drive on a long-distance road trip and you get caught up in the music, conversation or daydream and you’ve driven 1oo miles and you don’t remember it. I think time hypnosis is a very similar condition. My symptoms started in my mid-20’s. It seemed like the time between 25 and 30 was a blur. On my 30th birthday, I remember saying to myself, “what tha hell just happened?! Was that my late 20’s that just past me by??!! On man….I have and ex-wife and I have to pay child support!” The way to compare that to driving is the time I drive to Albuquerque for some comedy shows at Laffs Comedy Club.
Back then, I was doing the ten-hour trip from Fort Worth to Albuquerque every 3 months, so I became very familiar with the map, plus it’s a desolate drive so it was easy to get highway hypnosis. You’re driving, driving… all a sudden, Wichita Falls, Amarillo, then New Mexico, then later that night you’re in a Motel 6 on Paso De Norte, with a stripper (because she thought it was cool that you’re a comedian), a bottle of Jagermeister and a chicken…wait a minute there was no chicken in Albuquerque, that was Tucson. Come to think of it, that’s not highway hypnosis, that’s called “black out”.
How can you prevent highway hypnosis? When you drive keep your eyes moving, don’t have a fixed stare like you’re a predator looking at a playground. I’m not saying you should constantly look around to where you’re not paying attention and you look like you just smoked “something”, just check your mirrors every eight to twelve seconds. Once every two hours, pull over and take a break. Just take a couple of minutes to walk around the car. There is a cure for highway hypnosis and that starts with common sense. As far as time hypnosis goes, take a break every once in a while to appreciate your gift of life, kind of like taking a break on your road trip, see how everything is connected?
Keep sending your e-mails and comments, I always enjoy reading them even if they’re not nice. Join me again next week and until then…
Take care and be safe-
Danny Keaton