I have nothing this week. Which, if you've been paying attention, means that I have something. I just need to find it.

I've been distracted this week by 200+ chigger bites obtained on a picnic in a state park. I strayed from the beaten path and (this time) I paid the price. Next time, I will likely stray from the beaten path once again. This week sleep has been scarce, as has reflective thinking.

I could point out how pain and adversity are necessary for learning and growth, but if someone would have made that point with me earlier this week, we would have fought. I could use it as an object lesson for not straying from the beaten path, but to me 'beaten' implies conformity and even in the midst of this week's epsom salts extravaganza I would argue that each of us should blaze our own trails with thoughtful skepticism and disciplined perseverance. These thoughts have been expressed before.

Scratching an itch (or 200 as the case may be) is a temporary fix; and sometimes angers the affliction. But it also expresses one's humanity. We are physical beings in a physical world and regardless of effort there are times when that physicality overrides (or overwhelms) transcendental consideration. I am on the mend, but I do appreciate the reminder.