• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • Explore Chicago
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The Local Tourist

Experience the fascination of a tourist; Feel the comfort of the local

  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Travel the U.S.A.
    • The Midwest
      • Illinois
      • Indiana
      • Iowa
      • Kansas
      • Michigan
      • Minnesota
      • Missouri
      • Nebraska
      • South Dakota
      • Wisconsin
    • The South
      • Arkansas
      • Mississippi
      • North Carolina
      • Oklahoma
      • Texas
    • The West
      • Arizona
      • California
      • Colorado
      • Montana
      • Nevada
      • New Mexico
      • Utah
      • Wyoming
  • Travel Tips
    • Travel Now
  • Road Trips
    • Two Lane Gems
  • Cultural Travel
    • Arts and Culture
    • Attractions
    • Food and Drink
    • History
    • People
    • Roadside Attractions
  • Great Outdoors
    • Camping
    • Hiking and Active Travel
    • U.S. National Parks
  • Shop TLT
    • Travel Two Lane Gems
  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing
Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 128

July 24, 2020 //  by Tommy Hensel//  Leave a Comment

6shares

Pong.

Anyone of a certain age will remember the original Atari video game – Pong. It was released in 1972, but I think my first copy of it was a Christmas gift in 1975. That was a big deal back then! I mean, the whole concept of an interactive video game was new and exciting.

I bring this up, because today I had a vivid flash of Pong when I was thinking about my emotions. Yesterday, if you read my post, you will know that I hit rock bottom. I talked about the pendulum swinging all the way over to the dark side.

Today, the opposite seems to be happening. Just like a game of 1970s Pong, my mood hit some kind of invisible barrier and started to bounce back across the abyss towards the opposite side. At the moment, I haven’t hit a positive “high” point, but I do feel remarkably more equanimous and centered than I did last night.

If you have followed my posts here, you will know that I am a huge fan of metaphor and simile to help describe the odd flowing of emotions during our current crisis. This “Pong” analogy is just one of many, similar to the “Coronacoaster” concept I have written about many times.

Up, down, up, down. Now – side to side, hit the wall, bounce back.

However I choose to parse this, the end result is an exhausting cycle of energy. I truly feel a bit like that mythical Phoenix who bursts into flame, withers into ashes, then suddenly rises anew from the ash to fly off and start a new life. Every day I feel like I am going through that cycle on some level – feeling fine, suddenly feeling horrible, sinking into despair, wishing I were dead, sleeping on it, then waking the next day with a better attitude and finally rising up to a decent place o feeling OK again.

What I realize now, however, is that I only seem to make it up to “OK.” I cannot recall the last time I felt better than that – anything closer to “great” or “awesome” or even “good.” On a scale of 1 – 100 I feel like this pandemic has put me into a place where I bounce from about 10  up to 60 with occasional spikes to 70. It’s like a damper pedal on the piano – pushing down the high end so that I can only seem to reach a certain point and no higher.

I don’t know where this is going for me, but I feel like I needed to just get it out there – this feeling of being somehow restrained, unable to feel anything better than “just ok.” I wonder if others feel like this too?

It’s only Quarantine if it comes from the Quarante province of France. Otherwise, it’s just Sparkling Isolation.

6shares

Category: ThoughtsTag: Sparkling Isolation

About Tommy Hensel

Tommy Hensel is the Director of the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Moraine Valley Community College (www.morainevalley.edu/fpac), a position he has held since January 2008. A native of Columbia, South Carolina, he has worked for more than 35 years as a professional actor, singer, stage manager, director, and arts presenter. He holds a B.A. in music and a B.A. in communication from Florida State University and an M.A. in theater from the University of South Carolina. He currently serves as Chair of the Illinois Presenters Network and is a board member of NAPAMA. He served as co-chair of the 2018 Arts Midwest Conference and currently sits on the professional development committees of both NAPAMA and Arts Midwest.

Prior to his move to Chicago, Tommy was an 11-year resident of the Seacoast region of New Hampshire where he served as Executive Director of the Rochester Opera House and sat on several non-profit arts boards. He has served on grant review panels for the New England Foundation for the Arts, New Hampshire Arts Council, Vermont Arts Council, and Illinois Arts Council. During his years as an arts presenter, he has also served on the juried showcase panels for the Arts Midwest Conference and Performing Arts Exchange.

Among his many theater credits, Hensel was the founding artistic director of the Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival (now part of the Gamut Theatre Group in PA). He has over 50 professional directing credits to his name and an extensive resumé as a theatrical performer and cabaret singer. In Chicago, he has a side "gig" as a restaurant reviewer for The Local Tourist website (http://chicago.thelocaltourist.com) and blogs about travel and food at https://www.tableforoneplease.com.

Related Stories

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 248

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 151 through 247

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 144 through 150

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Days 136 through 143

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 135

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 134

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 133

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 132

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 131

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 130

Tommy Hensel

Sparkling Isolation – Day 129

Hummingbird stopped in flight

Diary of a Cockeyed Optimist: I’m not fine. But I will be.

Previous Post: «Hummingbird stopped in flight Diary of a Cockeyed Optimist: I’m not fine. But I will be.
Next Post: Sparkling Isolation – Day 129 Tommy Hensel»

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Your Cart

  • Contact
  • Work with TLT
  • Travel Writing

Site Footer

Disclosure

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Privacy Policy

© 2021 · The Local Tourist · Experience the fascination of a tourist; feel the comfort of the local