Sunday, July 17, 2005

Life of Routine

I received an in-person comment that my last entry wasn't very exciting, which is by all means true. My entries for the time being are going to be fairly mundane compared to the days with new countries and new cities but that's fine with me. Right now I'm busy with basement organization and couch hunting and the things one does when establishing some sort of permanency. It's been an interesting experience watching the process of a complete lifestyle change. I've been trying to step back and observe it as it's been happening, especially when I'm feeling unsettled or overwhelmed.

But now I'm feeling really good about things. I think all the major tasks have been taken care of and I'm starting to establish some routine. And a routine is not such a bad thing. I think routine gets a bad rap sometimes but I have to say that there is something very positive about it. You can accomplish so much more when you have an organized life with a fairly defined routine that you can adjust as necessary. The downside is that time starts to move a lot faster. My days of wandering were full of inefficiency because it's difficult to maintain an energy level that keeps things new and exciting. But it's definitely the way to draw time out. I think some of the longest seeming days in my life were when I was hitchhiking through Europe without any money. Some of those days seemed to last forever.

Maybe there's a nice balance in there somewhere. What would it be like?


Our new couch.

2 comments:

Dave said...

While you're settling, I'm tossing it all out and rejecting my old routine, which will most likely turn into new routine. You only have to be in routine as long as you want. There are always things you can do to avoid it. New modes of transportation to the same places. New people. New ways of doing things. All rather obvious, but easy to forget. Taking my camera with me has made me look at some of my old routines in new ways. I'm so looking forward to Portland.

Mom said...

Okay, who are you and what have you done with my son?