Work Rehab

I was thinking about Lindsay Lohan today. Well she was actually the first story on TMZ and we all know my TMZ addiction by now. Anyways, soon to be released from jail she is upset that she getting sent straight to 90 days rehab. It will be her second stint. She went in 2007 to a rehab in Utah for alcohol and drugs. I know that on last week's episode of Entourage that Ari's buddy and business partner Andrew was in sex rehab. Dr. Drew just paid Tiger Wood's former mistress $500K to star in his television rehab show. Everywhere there is rehab. Rehab from alcohol. Rehab from sex. Where is the rehab from everything else? Rehab from a crappy job? Rehab from terrible bosses? Rehab from unbelievably ridiculous goals and a capitalistic system that is completely unbalanced? It is these things that can cause the need for rehab from the alcohol and drugs right there.

Today I worked out, my hour and a half of zen. Afterwards I sat in the hot tub. Later on I laid in a hammock in the backyard under a tree and continued reading this really good book about the first US World's Fair in Chicago in 1893, called "Devil in the White City." I realized today at that moment that I am in work rehab. I thought about all those people in terrible jobs. They are miserable, insecure about their position, trying to maintain ridiculous goals or visions they have no desire to reach. They are still sick out there; desperate and crying out for help. But here it is is peaceful. There are no pressures. I'm not counting down the minutes on the clock. I'm not a zombie taking orders. I'm free. The air feels lighter. The food tastes better. I'm eating healthier and drinking a gallon of water a day. I look forward to exercising instead of forcing myself to do so.

A week ago I fought this. I didn't want to be here. I felt forced and trapped. I longed for a desk, a daily agenda, and supervisors over my shoulder to manage my every breath. I needed the cold embrace of a company supplying my paycheck. Society tells you that you are a loser if you are not employed and equally miserable. That you need to get back on the horse immediately. As if time to re-evaluate is for sissies. That you're a bum if you are not pounding on the pavement for the next deadbeat job. Of course society is right in a lot of ways too. You do need to pay for a roof over your head and a vehicle to drive with. You still need to eat and that costs money. There's insurance and recreation and if you have a family to support that kind of limits the rehab capabilities. So work work rehab isn't for everyone. Those under those conditions still need to rehab from time to time, but they need to find that peace in shorter increments.

It's not as though I'm sitting on my couch watching television and stuffing my face with junk food. I've embraced the spirituality of this place. I equate this time to the scene in Legends of the Falls when Brad Pitt's character takes off on his travelling journey. Yet instead of hunting zebras I'm playing tennis, rafting, and writing a gazillion blogs. In fact, such is the life in rehab my friends Sam and Remy interrupted my writing time for some tennis. We got both the sun and exercise out of the way. Remy is on his way to get a haircut which is the whole Jersey Shore trifecta right there.

I realize that it will have to come to an end eventually. I can't stay here forever. The peace and tranquility I am experiencing now is too good to last. I know that eventually obligations (i.e. bills) will win and this rehab gig will be a thing of the past but I'm not running back to the arms of society. They can drag me out of here kicking and screaming. Or throw a straight jacket on me. One man's rehab is another man's asylum. At least I have an answer when someone asks me what I do for a living. I tell them I'm in rehab.