Honeymoon Period

Today I was at the 99 Cent Store getting some Sour Patch Kids because
A. The juxtaposition of a shared parking lot for a Whole Foods and a dollar store will always make me laugh.
B. Fuck you, I wanted some Sour Patch Kids.

In front of me in line was an old affable black man in the midst of a comedy routine. His main thesis was something along the lines of "Women be shoppin, amirite!?!" But when it was his turn to check out the cashier looked at him and asked how his day was going. He broke off his bit and looked at her sincerely and said "I woke up, and that's 99 percent of it."

What profound words from a man picking up 99 cent allergy medication. This guy may live on the edge of poverty, he could even be homeless...or perhaps he is just a shrewd bargain hunter, but regardless he has a great outlook on life. I woke up today, some people didn't, life is a gift...enjoy it.

Some may find this an especially low threshold for success, kind of like the guy from the old TJ Miller routine that celebrated every day by drinking champagne at a bar just because. But it reminded me of times in my life that I have been unabashedly excited and positive about the world around me.

I remember every year counting down the days until going back to college? You remember that first week back? Doing something cool every day and then going out every night for like two weeks. It was fucking magical. Eventually you settle into your groove and remember things like class and the fact that your ex girlfriend is fucking some other dude, but for those first 2 weeks, nothing matters.

It's the same when you meet a new girl. In the beginning you want to do EVERYTHING together. Hey let's go see a movie, then read the same book together and then you can come to my dermatologist appointment with me in the morning, we'll hold hands in the waiting room, then we'll go to breakfast afterward and when you go out of town this weekend we'll watch the same movie together over Skype. IT WILL BE AMAZEBALLS!!!!

This you are all aware is the honeymoon period, it always happens at the beginning of something and then slowly fades because it is an unsustainable model. If you went out every single night of college you would likely flunk out or suffer from liver failure. Likewise if you were that insufferable annoying couple indefinitely, eventually your friends would murder you. That's just the way life works, we get excited about something in the beginning and slowly march toward contentment.

My first year in Chicago was crazy. My first year in LA was like a fever dream. My first time living in Europe was a manic screenwriter's fantasy. Everything was so new, foreign...and I'll never be able to get it back. I suppose this is why you'll find certain people who really enjoy living a nomadic lifestyle. You hang out some place until you get the lay of the land, then pull the ripcord just as you are settling in, only to jet set to some new exotic location. That rush cannot be replicated, just like a first kiss or a first impression, lightning never strikes twice.

I think of my life now. I live in Venice and have a really cool group of friends. We try to be adventurous and do fun things to keep everything fresh, but eventually it becomes increasingly difficult to find these unique experiences. There should be no excuse really, I live in LA and I could go somewhere new every night for the rest of my life and not really even make a dent in what this city has to offer. But it's so much easier to walk down the street to one of my usual haunts than say explore a new speakeasy in Korea Town.

When I first arrived here, I used to just go to the beach in the middle of the night after the bars closed. Do you remember that? Townhouse would close and we would walk 100 feet to the ocean, take our clothes off and go swimming. We would body surf the 3AM tide for 20 minutes, then walk home soaking wet, smoking cigarettes and laughing about life. It was awesome. We don't do it anymore.

I could chart that up to aging, but I think it is far more likely a circumstance of complacency. Oh ya...I've done that before. It's like going back for Little 5 or Homecoming after you graduate, it's so important the first couple years out and then you reach a threshold that says "ya, I'm good on that." I think this is a psychological need to try something new.

I used to be a yes man, but then life just kind of got in the way. You will grow apart from old friends, fall into a familiar groove and then you realize it becomes a lot easier to stay in on a Friday night bingeing on Netflix shows than it would be to go on an impromptu road trip to Vegas.

So how does one avoid this rut? Is there anything wrong with hanging out with the same people, going to the same restaurants and eating the same dish? Nay, I would however challenge you to change your perspective.

If the honeymoon period is inherently attached to things we associate with being NEW and we make the assumption that every single day, is a new day full of unique opportunities and circumstances that we may never experience again, could one not by use of the transitive property purport that each day can be lived within its own honeymoon period.

What a pretentious sentence. Let's try this. Every day is fucking different, embrace it.

Like that chick that you fucked for the first time four hours ago and you want to introduce to your parents already, like the first night of your Vancouver trip that was SO GREAT (ya, you were rolling) that you were talking about giving up your citizenship and moving to Canada. These moments exist on a smaller scale and happen every single fucking day.

So what you're with your best friends, grabbing coffee at some spot that you've been going to every morning for the past 5 years, grab on to one singular aspect of this experience and fucking hold onto it. It's so easy to get bored, but don't allow it. Read something new and tell everyone how fucking great it is, discover a new band, or a new Podcast (HAVE U GUYZ HEAR ABOUT INVISIBILIA YET OMFG!!!!1!!) Nothing is more attractive to a person that passion, you ever go on a date and the other person is like REALLY into something.

"I've got this garden and I fucking love it and let me tell you why. I fucking spend 6 months tending this beautiful organic kale and the whole time I'm like JESUS this is a lot of work for one fucking side salad, but I go there every Saturday, I fucking hoe that shit, pull weeds because I know that some day in the not-so near future I am going to go to a dinner party and provide a salad, and someone at that table is going to compliment that salad and I'm going to be like BOOOM MOTHERFUCKER. THAT SHIT WAS ALL ME"

I think gardening is dumb, but I just got so fucking fired up for some kale.

I've said it before, live in the moment, say yes to life because you never know how one innocuous encounter will change everything. You don't have to chase the honeymoon period in life, you can just choose to live in it. Be that body surfing at a dangerously high BAC at half passed two in the morning or shaving a couple seconds off of your mile time.

I'm watching Friday Night Lights now for the first time. It's fucking amazing. It's like the first time watching the OC or Lost...I will never get these episodes back, so I am going to spend my sick pneumonia filled weekend ALL IN on Dillon, TX. Low aspirations, but still! Whatever you get into this weekend, be it relaxing or going balls to the wall, go in with an open mind and you never know what might happen. The possibilities are endless.