Although I wouldn't want to spontaneously combust, I think spontaneity is generally a very good thing. I love doing things on the spur of the moment.
Just last weekend I flew to Vancouver with a friend for the sole purpose of going to a Marilyn Manson concert. It was crazy, it was expensive, and it was the most fun I've had all year. And that's saying a lot.
There doesn't seem to be as much spontaneity as there used to be -- at least according to some of the musicals I've seen, where people are always spontaneously bursting into song, which is much better than spontaneously bursting into flame.
Just once I'd like to be walking down the street, minding my own business, to all of a sudden find Judy Garland and a horde of young newspaper sellers appear and start signing about New York being a helluva place or something. I would join in, spontaneously of course, with witty and rhythmically correct melodies of my own, extolling the virtues of amazing Technicolor Dreamcoats.
Anyway, one time I haphazardly planned a camping trip to the Queen Charlotte Islands with my friend Ron. I drove out to the small town in northern British Columbia where he was staying at his brother's house, and stayed overnight. In the morning we woke up, refreshed and raring to go. We decided to ask Ron's brother Cliff if he wanted to come with us.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"The Queen Charlottes."
"How long you going for?"
"A few days."
He thought about it for a minute, and said, "Okay."
And he rolled out of bed, got dressed and came with us. He even drove, which was really nice of him, especially since he accidentally filled the tank of his brand new truck with gasoline rather than diesel fuel. But we had an amazing time, hiking and biking in the rain, bald eagles everywhere we looked. We laughed the entire weekend. It was one of the best camping trips ever. And that's also saying a lot.
I really respect that Spirit of Spontaneity that Cliff demonstrated. Not many people are like that. Most people would have wanted to know details (blech!) like how much money it would cost, where we would camp, what we would eat, where exactly are the Queen Charlottes, etc.
Not that there's anything wrong with wanting to know such things, but questions like these tend to put people like me on the spot because we never know the answers. We prefer the Indiana Jones school of planning: "I'm making this up as I go!"
Of course, there are times when being spontaneous can get you in trouble. Even trouble with the law. Not that I know anything about that. All I'm saying is try not to spontaneously do things that will cause other people to call the police on you. Use your head, in other words.
Have fun, but keep it safe and law-abiding. Spontaneously going on an all night road trip to Vegas or somewhere = good. Spontaneously deciding to rob a bank = bad. You get the picture -- pretty simple, really. You might be surprised how often you find yourself explaining your actions to the authorities, even when you thought you were being perfectly legal. Again, I'm not speaking from personal experience here . . .
As you get older, and start to accrue all sorts of roots and responsibilities, it gets harder and harder to cultivate that Spirit of Spontaneity. My solution? Either don't ever get older, or else take advantage of your youth while you can.
But even if you have a husband or wife, kids, a house and a job, you can still do crazy and unexpected stuff. Spontaneously take your spouse to Niagara Falls or something. Why not? Too far? Too much money? Do something closer and for less money, then. The details aren't important- remember- you're making it up as you go!
I would give you a homework assignment to go and do something crazy and spontaneous, but then all the spontaneity would be gone, thus defeating the purpose. And plus I don't want to be liable if you wind up in a Las Vegas jail. So I will just say this: if the mood strikes you to do something spontaneous this week, have fun. Email me and tell me about it.
I will leave you with this sobering piece of factual fiction: the number one cause of spontaneous combustion among humans aged 14-41 is sitting around doing nothing. The number two cause is blue angels.
Nathan enjoys exploring different off-ramps and twists and turns on the great road of life. He has no special qualifications to be an iamnext writer. Sure, he has a BSc, but really . . . However, Nathan has traveled extensively, in Asia and Europe, and has hitch-hiked across Canada, and he has learned a few things along the way. Just enough things to know he still has a lot of learning still to do. Copyright 2003 iamnext.com May not be used without permission.
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