The Royal Stomp

Walking down the street, up the stairs, alleyways at 4:30am when the bar closes, the sound of clacking can never be avoided. This sound penetrates your ear like nails on a chalkboard even in the midst of pure chaos. And from this I ask, 'why do we stomp?'

I believe the answer to this is one of a few reasons:
It is a sign of confidence, frustration, haste or the sound of sweet vintage boots with an extra firm heel. All of them carry a notion of superiority or seriousness, qualifying this action as Royal.The sounds we make in unison with emotion is reflected in different ways. When we are excited or ADD, we walk in a short and quick motion making our shoes clack only slightly or when we are very calm, we walk slowly, hardly making any noise at all. However, when we are in a hurry to the office or stressed, it is a rhythmic pace that has resonance. But what does this really mean? Why do actually do it. I think it has to do with one thing: Taking ourselves WAY too seriously.

On the subway last week, I encountered a man who started fighting with another when he wedged himself in a small space. For no real reason, he came out with the most obnoxious insults that could be produced, turned scathing red, and attracted attention. After 5 minutes, others became annoyed and yelled at the guy to shut up. Naturally, the man began to insult everyone else as well. Then, a woman started complaining to people and got riled up about those who were laughing at this nonsense. She argued that she didn't have to take this bullshit after a long day of work. She couldn't understand why people were snickering. These people, the woman included, take themselves way too seriously. As it happened, both the aggressor and the pissed woman stormed off the train in a heat, stomping their feet like angry children. People who cannot laugh at themselves will start fights over bench space on the subway. People with no sense of humor will get fired up about how other people laugh at these ridiculous situations. While I could understand her frustration about not needing anymore stress- it's not her stress. Why worry about it?

The point is that why should we fuss over every little detail like children with tantrums and in doing so, ruin a great pair of shoes by stomping so heavily on the concrete? I think if we took life a little less serious sometimes, we would have much more energy, less pained feet, and kick ass boots that lasted just a bit longer.

Mission 13:
1) Tread lightly
2) Laugh at yourself or at a situation you usually would take lots of energy getting fussy over.
3) Post an instance on this blog where you've taken yourself way too seriously and what you've learned since then.