Two Vespa Scooters

Have you ever been scared during a ride? I’m not talking about the fear resulting from near collisions or sudden obstacles in the road. I’m referring to the psychic uneasiness that provides the fertile bed for scary stories and the darkness lurking within. It’s perhaps summed up best in the opening narration of the Twilight Zone:

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”

Imagination. It provides the bright, happy thoughts of rides and adventures. And it can transform a sunny day ride into something unsettled, haunted and uncomfortable.

On a ride last fall with my friend Andy Heckathorne that’s exactly what happened. You never know how things will go when you’re out riding a Vespa scooter.

Think Less. Work More.

I stood for awhile gazing at this copse of trees wondering what it was that I found so attractive. I’ve been here many times and have photographed it many times. After standing there for a few minutes I realized I was getting no where. And the camera hung limp in my hand, incapacitated by thought and descending into a rabbit hole where nothing good would happen. “Just take a picture and move on,” I said to myself. “You need to think less and work more.”

Think less. Work more.

My new mantra. Specifically it’s intended for the existential malaise I feel that keeps me from working with the camera. The mental critic that assures each scene I consider or print I make has already been done. And better. The critic goes on to remind me of the opportunities I’ve missed, my personal shortcomings, and the general futile game I’m playing when it comes to anything creative. Best I seek a position as a small cog in some unimportant machine.

The more sinister effect is how it can seep into every aspect of life from the huge mess I’ll make if I attempt to fix the leaking pipes in the basement to the folly of cleaning up the garage because it will just get messy again.

And that critic tells me how dangerous it is at my age to be riding a Vespa scooter and to blog anything about it is just ego run wild or screaming into the wind where no one is listening.

The only way to shut up that critic is to think less and work more.