Howling at the Moon

••• Comment by Sylene Argent ••• Scary experiences we block out

Have you ever had one of those, “well, that could have been really bad” experiences that was such a near-miss, you had to mentally block them out not to think about your own mortality?

I have had a few of those instances, and is it ever weird how our brains can be shaken up after a “holy smokes” occurrence, yet almost become numb – even years later – so we can move beyond that experience.

One instance that came to mind when I was thinking about this recently was when I was probably around 12. My family had gone skiing, as we often did annually. This time, we moved from the bunny hill to a more intermediate one and, evidently, I was not ready for the steeper slope. As I careened down to the bottom, I became aware of a parking lot not far from the bottom. I couldn’t slow down and remember thinking, “I am going to crash.”

Then, I lifted one leg and that changed my course of direction. I did not have a thought to do that, it just happened. It is super weird for me to think about how that happened.

I mean, to be fair, the parking lot could have been a lot further than I realized as a kid, but that was how I perceived it at the time.

I went back to the bunny slope, and I think that may have been the last time I put on a pair of skis.

I have told the story in this column before about how, when at our extended family’s cottage in the middle of the bush near Kirkland Lake, I thought a black wolf up the road was my uncle’s dog and I kept calling for her. My dad noticed, called me back towards the cottage, and was not happy with me about that.

Also, when I was little, I remember waiting for a bus to pick me up in front of my house before school started. I was the lone kid on my side of the road, and there was a group of kids on the other side. One morning, the bus stopped with its lights and a driver must not have been paying attention and slammed on his or her brakes, squealing tires as the car came to an abrupt halt. I had to walk around the backside of the car to cross the street to get on the bus.

From that point on, I was walked across the busy street to join the group of other kids.

All of these instances sure make me think about accidents and how things can go wrong, at any unsuspecting instance.

Perhaps that is why I am – from what I have been told – a little overcautious.

It is funny to think how things we don’t necessarily believe affect us really did, we just may not realize the impact they have had and build habits and routines from that.

The human brain sure is a mystery.