Web Unspun

Before the No Service trip, I had only camped twice...in suburban backyards. Similarly, my Jeep hadn’t ventured far beyond the paved path. I'm not sure which of us was racing to catch up more, but the grand outdoors had us swerving to survive. Who takes the wheel(s).

Ring, ring. Hello. Who is this? You want to what?! Eat at me from the inside while scratching away at the sanity that’s disintegrating beneath me? I’ll have to call you back; I have the credit card company on the other line, and they’re threatening the same thing. Who has the last word.

What is it about a kaleidoscope that inspires creativity? Every view opens the door to new possibilities, ordinary objects take on exotic shapes, and colors converge in harmony...beauty spirals in all directions as light illuminates the imagination. This expansive, mystical experience is really no miracle at all, though; rather, it's a matter of perspective thanks to mirror assembly and positioning. Is a kaleidoscopic view possible at all times, then, if we tinker a bit? Who takes a look.

"You just have to go with the flow," replied Mark, the hot air balloon operator/tour guide, after I asked him for any words of wisdom as a result of his 30+ years of experience piloting these majestic aircraft. It's so much easier when you're hovering above the mountain peaks...or maybe that's the key for total liftoff. Who is full of hot air. 

"Earworms" (a.k.a., songs that get stuck in a person's head) are caused by a phenomenon called "involuntary musical imagery." According to psychologists, the frequency of earworms "depended upon the thickness of several brain regions," but does that mean it's better to be thickheaded? Or does thick-headedness welcome more earworm invasions? Who inches toward an answer.

It seems I missed the sprawling shoreline, the dinosaur bones, and the various components of the state meal as I drove through Oklahoma, but I did find unearth a key to my mental clarity while on the move. Sooner or later, Who yields to being OK. 

I thought following the yellow brick road to an oasis would be a lot easier. Though my walk through the Ozarks wasn't derailed by apple-throwing trees, flying monkeys, or a jaded witch, the path to the wizard, or rather the waterfall, was not filled with munchkins or Technicolor either. Who is off! 

You may recall, early on in my unspinning, I explored my fear of the dark as it relates to the monstrous cIown wreaking havoc in my subconscious. At that point, I was still in recovery mode, with city lights and neighbors abound. Would the clown pop up again as the shadows of the wild set in? Who is in the dark.

It’s all fun and games till someone gets possessed, but is contacting departed souls always an exorcise in futility, or is it possible to filter for Caspers only? It doesn’t matter, I already know who I’m gonna call in the end.

I’m taking baby steps toward happiness and hopefulness; are your arms open to catch me if I fall? Don’t worry, I’m not packing; however, if you pick me up, it won’t be long till you bid farewell to your peace of mind as I take aim at the walls around your heart.

Squinting to make numbers function correctly does not a mathematician make; ask my high school math teacher who helped me see I needed long-range vision support. But these small gains in arithmetic didn’t grant me any clarity on what’s next. Where’s hindsight when you need it?

Pucker up, because positivity is ready to greet you with a big kiss at the door, but don’t look twice! These lips are made for talking, and they have quite a stay-in-place story to tell.

It speaks to my privilege to look at this aisle and not be panicked; I have enough toilet paper. But if demand continues to outweigh supply, I might need to get creative as my inventory dwindles. Maybe If I had approached all toilet paper buying opportunities through the “enough is never enough” lens before, this problem would have been wiped out.

I imagine the Chicken Soup for the Soul series wouldn’t be the best-seller it is today if readers didn’t have souls. Did you know that the initial version was rejected 144 times? I guess publishers don’t have souls…Though the tears flowed with each reading, I can’t remember finding a recipe for the soul. So what’s cooking in there?

Matt…Matt…WAKE UP! Now’s no time to be caught with your eyes closed. No, this isn’t a dream; just follow me along the branches, and we’ll make our way to the leaves to wave goodbye before they break away and turn into snowflakes. Hurry up, time is fluttering! Somebody pinch me.

MATTHEW don gets straight emotional in this one broh. The planets going ham on each other broh.