Free Falling

I finally understand the song “Free Falling” by Tom Petty. I always thought that it was a rather insensitive song, and maybe that’s because I heard an ex-boyfriend singing it at the top of his lungs once. But now I see that it’s a rather exhilarating song in that the pain of a break-up tends to suck the happy and hopeful thoughts from your heart and mind through a thin straw. I guess life is the drinker in this scenario. And pardon, my mixed analogies, but the straw is also a loosey-goosey noose around the neck and it’s possible to spend an entire day grabbing at your neck trying to loosen it somehow. But the mind works wonders… One day, one thought, one appreciation of what really happened loosens the noose, and you realize there is no going back, life has stopped sucking, and the straw has straightened itself out and is unable to wrap itself around anything anymore. And then you realize that you just need to let go of the end of the rope that so easily came off your neck with that tugging, and let go. Then, you’re free falling. Free falling into what? I have no idea, but at least I can breathe now!

I might fall into a garbage dump (I doubt it though) and be chased by a mangy, drooling boxer with loose teeth from eating hubcaps, but at least I’ll be able to look around and find something worthy. At least, I can breathe enough to notice the putrid scent of the dump because the pungent smells of what was have miraculously disappeared, and are only a memory now.

I might fall into a beautiful stream of crystal clear waters and be blessed with a little elf whose only purpose in life is to grant my every wish, and we’d laugh, and I’d order plates of pasta and prime rib, and tell him that I want him to ensure that my children remain emotionally, mentally and physically healthy in such a way that the ups and downs of their lives are mere bumps. I would order up a man that was: 1) loving toward children (particularly, mine) 2) funny; 3) sure of himself; 4) compassionate; 5) intelligent; and 6) hot. Then I would hug my elf and allow him to free fall because I can handle the rest of life’s surprises with what I hold in my pocket: faith, hope, love and the grace of God.