Flights Home to Dark Nights of the Soul and Sciatica

 

External things have lapsed while a psychic hibernation has set in. It is my equivalent of a bear's Big Sleep although I have chosen to decline it this year.

Apparently, if there are enough foods about one can.

I've had to travel a little to detox out of the trauma of dealing with other people's trauma and hence my own for so long. It has not been a linear route by any means, but more a carousel of recovery. I pass this and it recedes, here comes something that had receded before.

I realized on the last leg of my last flight that I had not thought of any work-related pain at all till then. That was a good week away from distressful memories and intrusive thoughts. Apparently I had been in a part of my brain where these things did not exist. And then, due to years of reinforcement, I step into an airport with Louisville as my destination, and the pain returns immediately.

How merciful it is that the brain reserves its own hotel rooms, rent a cars, spas, museums, eateries and assorted touristy sites.

I watched a video last night about travel writing, and the best part, selling the piece upfront to fund the trip. That would be sumptuous. I wondered where I'd pitch for. I came up with these:

The train ride around the Copper Canyon from AZ to Mexico. I would stay at the Posada Barrancas Mirador for awhile

I would also pitch...

The interior cruise in Alaska

the Trans-Canadian rail excursion 

and then,

whatever the hell I thought of after the satiation had worn off.