In this informal monologue, the speaker recounts a piece of advice his father gave him for dealing with personal setbacks and emotional distress. The father suggested a binary choice: remain in despair or move on. To facilitate moving on, he proposed a ritual: write the specific problem on a piece of paper, dig a hole in the backyard, place the paper in the hole, cover it, and hold a brief funeral to say goodbye to the issue. The speaker adopts this practice, describing how he now metaphorically "digs holes" throughout the day whenever a bothersome thought arises—especially while driving—by mentally burying the problem to clear space for positive experiences. The narrative serves as a personal anecdote illustrating a symbolic, physical‑metaphor coping strategy for mental‑health resilience.
