Why Rust Unburnished

Anita's Trip down SF Golden Gate Bridge even tho she's scared of heights 

Video of my trip halfway up SF Golden Gate

I was thinking today about how many people are afraid to try something new.

Single, married, coupled up folks. They just live in their routine of abysmal events, looking like drones, choked by complaints of how utterly bored they are with their lives, instead of just going out and trying that new dish, restaurant or exercise routine to shake things up. 

A few nights ago, I spent the evening chatting with a guy friend I grew up with. I've known him since I was about 14, 15 years old, and now, here we are, both in our 40's and he's married with the 2.3 kids and I am not, having lived in 3 continents and amassed a wealth of knowledge as to what I expect from my life. He had an evening free so he accompanied me grocery shopping, came home took out the groceries, and just sat in my living room staring at me. Talking with him, I was concerned about his well being because growing up with him, he had more fire in his eyes. He was the guy everyone wanted to be around. Now as a married man, he just looked dead, like a drone dribbling monosyllables.  I asked him why married people in Nigeria all look bored out of their minds. He replied simply: There's nothing to do. With the kids, the job, there's not much you can do. Me, the baffled world traveller, adventurer suggested some things that could be done to shake things up, to hopefully get some life into this drone. 

Some of my suggestions included spending a weekend in a local city embracing the local culture, a "staycation" in the city in an upscale hotel for the weekend, or couples dinner parties where a different couple hosts a dinner party every month - no kids allowed. I didn't even mention my favorite things like go to a play, comedy show, wine tasting, an exhibit…because those seem more otherworldly (upscale, bourgeoisie) to the average Nigerian. I kept it simple and local hoping to appeal to him.  

That was not to be. He just shrugged and said: You must think you're abroad.  As if my suggestions had a location stamp to them. 

This just saddened me. His eyes looked dead, dead from boredom with his enthusiastic speech cut off and shortened to dribbles. I thought, surely I don't want to be like that when I grow up and get married. I don't want to be like that at all - married or not. Why do we let routine overtake our lives and make us slaves to it? Why do we blame the arrival of the kids for snuffing out our fun? They have their fun, why can't we find some type of excitement for ourselves while still keeping them entertained. I want to live and explore whatever is in front of me, as long as it's within my reach and not illegal. If it's available for the taking, it should be available to me. What's stopping me? I thought of that poem Ulysses where it says: To Seek Knowledge like the Setting Sun.

That's what I want until my last breath. I want that for you too.

Let us never be afraid to try new things, it's the very essence of our being. Why rust "unburnished"?