January Masthead - Life is Tight

My life ride is a lot like an enclosed water-slide; it has a beginning and an end, it’s fast, dark at times, fun, scary, and can feel tight and enclosed.

A couple of years ago I road a two-story high, enclosed water-slide. To get to the slide I had to climb a steep, soggy, wooden staircase until I reached the top. Once I got to the top, I took one look at the slide’s entrance and thought...That’s not a slide. That’s a gerbil tube. I climbed up 7,000 moist stairs for a rodent ride.

The slide was completely enclosed from top to bottom. A person could lodge themselves in there like a blood clot and never come out!

The first few moments of the ride were intense. I couldn’t see my own hands in front of my face, although I did get used to the deep darkness after a few seconds. The only thing I couldn’t make peace with was the confinement.

People are always saying “life is short!” but never “life is tight!” Except it is tight. Every morning I wake up and crawl into my enclosed water-slide, cross my fingers and hope that I don’t run into any obstructions that day. But, then a week or so ago, I had an Oprah ah-ha moment and realized that yes life is short but not necessarily tight. I can ride over rivets and bump into obstacles and just bounce around them. Up, down to the sides. It’s wide open.

This new masthead, for this new year, is an ode to my new outlook. It’s wide and open and offers a different perspective. The size of Heidi in relation to the Earth, the vastness of space. Plus, the minute I took this picture I knew I wanted to Photoshop a globe into Heidi’s hand.

A whole new outlook on life PLUS an excuse to do cool stuff in Photoshop. Isn’t it nice when you can put your new existential thoughts to practical use?