I have no problem admitting that I’m child at heart. Nor am I ashamed that my old treehouse still resides in my backyard, just so I can use the attached swing every day. I know I’m far from being the only person who enjoys swinging, but I think I take it to another level. You see most people only enjoy swinging for a few minutes. Not me. I can swing for hours on end. There have been countless times when I’ve been swinging for close to an hour, stopped for ten minutes, and then gone right back to swinging. This would happen over and over again throughout the entire day. But why do I like to swing so much? Well if I had to guess, it’s because I hate sitting still. Or maybe it’s because swinging is the closest I can get to flying without worrying about airfare.

Whenever I travel, I scout out parks that have swings and I rate them compared to other swings I’ve used. And if I get the urge to swing at random points during the day, I’ll see if I can I immediately go out and find a swing to use. During these quests to find a swing, I’ll end up at a park and find myself surrounded by younger children. Their parents often look at me as if I’m insane, probably thinking, “Why in the world is this teenager swinging nonstop right now?” What, is there some sort of law that says you have to be ten or under to use a swing for an absurdly long time? Just kidding, I know I’m weird; I deserve to get strange looks.

But why on earth am I writing an article about swinging anyway? There is so much going on in the world, and many more important events that I could be reading or writing about. So why swinging? Well to most people, swinging is just a fun childhood activity, like kickball or hopscotch. But to me, swinging has always been much more. When I was growing up I would swing with my brother and friends. I would also swing while my grandparents, relatives, or my mother’s close friends would push me. In this way, I bonded with a lot of people while swinging. And as silly as it sounds, I also bonded with swings themselves. Not only would I feel lost without them, but I also wouldn't be myself.

So thank you swings, for always being there for me. As for those reading this article and who probably think that I am outrageously strange, I hope you all have your own equivalent of what swings are to me.