2 posts tagged “commuting”

Ten years ago I stopped commuting from one municipality to another on a daily basis, and was shocked to realize how much time and energy I had. Living and working in the same time space continuum had a rejuvenating effect, and I vowed I would never go back to that commuter world. I had my life back, I felt like me, and people didn't look at me like I was crazy. For the past two years, I've lived and worked in the downtown core, walking 15 minutes between. Once you've done that, it is very hard to think of living any other way. It spoils you for anything else, or so I thought.

I have since relocated to SuperNatural, the Best Place on Earth, ( and heaven knows there will be more monickers in years to come) where quality of life is everything. Meeting people here is odd, because it takes me a while to realize that the " what do you do?" is actually about what do you like to do ( activity, sports, hobby, passion) not what do you do as work. Where you live and what you do as your passion is what counts; it's understood that the other thing ( work) is secondary, and your ultimate happiness depends on the passion, and of course, the location.

I am commuting on a weekly basis, and that holds some sanity as opposed to the daily grind. During the week I walk to my office ten minutes away, in a new version of a new downtown. On weekends I travel home , but I am travelling through some of the most dramatic sea and mountain scapes ever. At first it was profoundly rivetting and distracting; I couldn't sleep or read or relax, I studied every inch of the panorama as it whizzed by. Today I got swept up in the tourist buzz, and put down my reading to absorb another sunset, a shimmering lake, a cavernous mountain pass; I think I'm gradually assimilating. I've put the go-go-go pace behind me ( most of the time), and stopping to take a look around, and realize how lucky I am. I am living close to loved ones, doing something I am good at and care about, and learning to live a little more deeply everyday. Those pauses that Mother Nature instills are botanical or geographic yield signs, and I'm learning the rules of this new road.

Yesterday I was rushing to walk the 15 minutes it takes to get from my uber-downtown apartment to the campus where I work. Rushing, despite the fact that I'd been up since 5 am - puttering, coffee, breakfast, shower, dressed, etc. How is this possible? There's no time to think about it, so I just grab the thing resembling my bag/purse, mp3 player ( aka faux ipod) and run for the elevator. I see the battery is on low, and think, this is not good - I will need some motivational tunes to get me into the mindset of obnoxious urban pedestrian. I don't live for music, but on a morning like this, it helps. Music thingy comes to life with its last trickle of juice as I am leaping out onto the streets ( image of gazelle, minus the lithe form), and I hear  some guitar/banjo pickin'. Uh oh. Then I remember I recently ripped O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and that I am immersed in "I'll Fly Away.... when I die, hallelujah by and by..." etc. Which reminds me of music for my future wake/funeral - this is a file I have actually created and discuss regularly with loved ones ( they need to be prepared after all...) There is nothing wrong with writing your own obituary, planning your own service, having a will and selecting the tunes - proper planning prevents poor performance. I also think there is room in my world for a karaoke funeral, or something where individuals instead of giving testimony/eulogies, they come up and sing (or lyp synch) a song. Now that's a variety show I could get into...

Anyway, back to my commute. The zippy little pickin' gets me going, and I am all but dancing across intersections, singing along ( in my head only, I desperately hope) with Alison Krauss  and Gillian Welch, trying to decipher which part of the harmony I really want to sing. This leads me to think that I am really an alto at heart, but I cannot resist often striving to sing soprano, with very mixed results. My partner is a bona fide soprano ( who I met singing in a choir) and it would be best for all concerned if I stayed in my alto box. I flip back and forth  (high, low) and before I know it, I am smiling to myself, and deciding I am going to have a great day - I am not tired, discouraged, nor inundated by work - I am ready to give what I've got, and calm about the prospects. I am invinscible in this brief moment, and I arrive at the door of my of my workplace at 8:59 am. I am a personal stickler for time, being raised a military brat, I simply cannot shake this obsession. Just before entering the building I am ambushed by a colleague just back from vacation, who regales me with his travels and anecdotes for 15 minutes in the blazing sunshine. And I think, hey it's summer, I've worked hard, this is not going to mess up my day. I listen politely, ask questions, offers comments, resisting the temptation to look at my watch. Punctuality is shot to hell, but the banjo strummin's still going on in my cortex, and I do finally fly away to my office, late for once in my life.

Funny thing too.... the world did not come to an end.