PSYCHOLOGY BUSKING a la wordswords: LIVING LONGER AND STRONGER: A PENTAGONAL PLAN

It is what it is.

Though it is summer the weather seems not yet to be in my busking favor. This morning I’ve been for a run in the mud in the rain on the hill and now I’m woolgathering (again) and writing my blog.

Fitness is one of my usual introspective themes. This is one of the reasons why I run the hills, to keep fit. But why do I want to keep fit? I want to keep fit because I love to busk. Being fit is all about me being a busker.

It is what it is.

But being a busker is not the be-all-end-all. My fitness regimen is just part of a bigger picture … that of me living my whole life in productive fashion. I’ve only one body and I decided long ago to take care of it.

Every morning I rise at 5:00 A.M., make myself an Americano, sip and read in the following order: THE HUFFINGTON POST, AL JAZEERA NEWS, and the latest blogs from PSYCHOLOGY TODAY. (The frame for this particular blog entry about taking care my body is from 5 LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM THOSE LIVING IN THE BLUE ZONES (JENNA WOOTTON, 2016), is from PSYCHOLOGY TODAY.)

FIND PURPOSE

Purportedly, people who have a greater sense of purpose and direction in their lives than that of their peers are more likely to outlive their peers. Hmmm … I rather doubt the purpose in my life should be to outlive my peers, but saying thus, I’m convinced that my greater sense of purpose must be somewhere to the right of center on the selfish-to-selfless linear continuum.

Hmmm … finding purpose for a busker … I could rant that I am supplying song for the world but that seems corny. I could rant that when I busk in Regina, Canada I do so for the SCHIZOPHRENIA SOCIETY OF SASKATCHEWAN (SSS), and seems quite altruistic. The truth about busking on behalf of the SSS is that its win-win (sort of). Really I am busking to pay myself for pro-bono services that I offer to clients referred by the SSS.

However, saying thus, I am a busking aficionado – I do, after all, fancy myself as being an international buskologist.

TAKE A NAP

Midday naps are associated with reduced blood pressure levels. Snooze and you win, rather than snooze and you lose. I never nap. I know I should nap but I don’t. Factoid: If ever I took a noon nap, it would turn into an REM afternoon sleep. It’s just the way I (my eyes) roll. Factoid: In my 65 years so far on this planet I’ve had two naps, two being a generous count.

Hmmm … when would a busker take a nap? Without much thought, I could easily nap between peak busking hours. My best hours are at noon, at suppertime, and early evening. These are times the when the crowd comes out to shop. And where would I nap? I live downtown and I busk downtown. If I were so inclined napping would be easy peasy; I’d just walk home. Factoid: Whenever I’m on buskation I always stay at downtown hotels because I only busk in downtown areas. Napping would be simple on any buskation. Methinks that a nap could serve as a catharsis far from the madding crowds.

STAY ACTIVE

Hit the gym, hoe the garden, huff and puff more than a few times a week. Exercise is the best! I’m addicted to running, lifting weights, hiking, and bike riding. (I used to be addicted to swimming until James Fixx came along!) Even if you decide just to have evening strolls for your exercise, try it for thirty-one days and I can promise it will become your favorite evening routine (or at least your second favorite routine … wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Hmmm … Being a busker means continually walking up and down city sidewalks. Being a busker means carrying your gear, at least one guitar and sometimes a back pack. Being a busker means standing for long periods; at least it does for me because I’m a stand-up busker. Standing for 90 minutes at a time takes endurance. I guess for the sake of practical argument, this walking and standing is exercise enough for ordinary mortals; however, for me my running and lifting simply prepare me for the long stands of busking. Plucking each busking day in carpe diem fashion is much easier if one is fit.

WE DO NOT STOP EXERCISING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD – WE GROW OLD BECAUSE WE STOP EXERCISING (Dr. Kenneth Cooper).

EAT YOU FRUITS AND VEGGIES

It’s 2016! Greens are in -- Cows are out.

The Mediterranean diet is the mother of all healthy diets. A meat and potatoes diet is for those middle-age middle-class misadventurers with the big mid-sections. One of my biggest fears is to be battened with a pot belly. My delusional self still insists that though I am 65, I am still a rock solid specimen.

Hmmm … as my age increases I’m less of a carnivore. I love to barbeque ITALIAN STAR sirloin burgers and that’s pretty much the meat I eat, save for the odd chicken and every couple weeks or so, a medium rare steak. I’m with the Mediterranean program … I eat tons of vegetables. I’m not a real fruit lover but I do eat an apple a day (to keep the doctor away).

KEEP STRONG SOCIAL TIES

Don’t let work and wealth trump friendship. Good friends are hard to come by. Bestest friends are even harder to come by, maybe only once or twice or thrice in a lifetime (the first time being in early grade school and then next times being whenever you were falling in love). I repeat: Don’t let work and wealth trump friendship. A life without friends is just a corporate American Augean stable. Know this and you will prosper.

Hmmm … it’s always nice visiting with friends who stop and chat while I’m busking, but I must admit it is awkward at times. Should friends be tossing coins into my guitar case? I think not, and I even tell them so. However, there are familiar strangers that are particular to my specific buskspots, who always stop and chat and toss coins my way. I’ve no problem accepting money from familiar strangers.

And there you have it … my pentagonal plan for my productive well-being.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY.

IT’S THE ONLY PLACE YOU HAVE TO LIVE (Jim Rohn).

Marching in my CHAUCERIAN PARADE this week: