I know, after reading the title it might be hard to get the quasi-similar Yardbirds song out of your head but oh well. If I had to suffer with the association, as do you. : )
In the movie "A Beautiful Mind" the character John Nash remarks to his new love under a blanket of stars that he does not believe in luck but he does believe in assigning value to things. Even Mr. Nash, one of the most logic driven of them all, believed that having those "special, sacred items" is a necessity. This got me reflecting on the things that I hold value to, particularly the concert objects that I rely on for mystical powers when I am in a bind...
When I was five I gashed my face in pretty bad wrestling with my cousin on Christmas Eve. The cut was remedied by a trip to the emergency room and a few stitches. Luckily, it was under my eyebrow so the scar is hard to detect unless we are up close & personal. Before the sewing up took place, my parents promised me that we could visit Children Palace (remember that toy store?) and I could pick out a toy if I behaved while the doctor fixed me up. Well, it took some sedation, intense screaming and a straight jacketish device but I got patched together. I did not keep my part of the bargain with my parents but they did and I picked out a Carebear figurine. It still sits on the shelf in my livingroom & before that it was on my desk at college.
As for athletic good luck charms, I used to believe that particular pairs of my underwear could make me run faster. I saved those pairs for race days. This held true for a while but at last my mom, who was doing my laundry at the time, made several comments about how I was not poor (I guess my intimates were starting to take a beating) and I abandon the theory of the lucky underwear.
Recently, I used to carry around a check as a form of good luck. It was with me on recent significant occasions such as my oral thesis defense and the Columbus Marathon. I have since retired it. Usually I carry around a small religious medallion as a form of comfort.
What about the rest of you? Got anything you want to share?
1 comment:
I had these stuffed white tigers I took to all races, I can't remember all their names but Smoky was the real good luck charm. Many bad things were done to smoky on the bus by the boys cross team.
I also have these wine corks in my track shoe bag. I can't even remember how I got them but I guess they are lucky :)
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