Today my day was a day of running errands, road construction, and detours, oh, and dust. I say, plenty of dust. Although summer has returned with 96 degrees and “the livin’ is easy”, errands take more time to accomplish.
Waiting is the norm when one-lane roads exist with flagmen (or flag women) directing traffic. There is no getting around it. The side streets are often useless to maneuver around the roadblocks.
A good quote from Indira Gandhi is handy advice in traffic,
“We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.”
In other words, sit back and enjoy the scenery. What scenery you might ask? Billboards! Excellent reading material is billboards! Moreover, if you find yourself near a computerized billboard, it is like winning the lottery! Think about all the businesses and health issues you could learn about – all from a billboard. Alternatively, you could use the billboard as a game: how many ads are there in one minute? How do the ads differ in colors and shapes? Which ones stand out from the rest? What is the effect of the colors used in their surrounding scenery? A computerized billboard is pay-dirt information!
Yes, billboards! However, even if the billboard nearest you is not a computerized one, there is a still mind-boggling thing to do with it. If you are very industrious and the wait is extra long, to keep your sanity, you could keep a notebook in the vehicle and collect billboard data for a study of advertising and placement of products. Make this time worth every second as you observe.
On the other hand, if that does not strike your fancy, you could let your mind wander a bit and daydream the billboard is advertising your name and artwork for an exhibition at a famous museum or gallery. You could design something in your mind. Better yet, why not go for the Gold and make it a computerized billboard! It is turning out loads of ads for your solo exhibitions in loads of museums and galleries! An active mind makes the time go faster, when waiting in traffic. An active mind is a content mind.
Seriously, in the midst of running errands, and you find yourself waiting for the road construction crews to give you a “go ahead” signal, learn to be still in the midst of activity. Use your artistic imagination to keep you happy and content. It is definitely better than road rage!
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