I’ve been struck by how easy it is to slip into old habits at home. Until today, the weather has been fantastic, so instead of sitting up in the study, i’ve been working from the sun porch. The change in scenery is refreshing. I sit and write, and feel the sun on my shoulders as it pours through the skylights and windows, or listen to the rhythm of the falling rain as it pelts the glass and bounces off the tree leaves and shrubbery.
It’s quite soothing, actually.
Which makes me wonder why offices often feel cave-like and constricting. Back when there was such a thing as stable employment and “moving up the ladder,” you’d start deep in the cave and, as your got promoted, you’d work your way out towards the light, so to speak. Since the recession, the concept of employment has shifted but the concept of office space has not. True, there are coworking spaces popping, which are often quite cool and useful. The benefits of working at home: good natural light, easy access to what you need; with the benefits of being in an office: other people around to bounce off ideas or just engage in random chatter.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time wandering around Vancouver, the scenery is just spectacular. If not for the laws of physics I suppose, every building should just have glass windows that run from top to bottom. Higher up the building that might pose a safety concern, but you don’t have to be that high up to get a view of the mountains.
And the rhythm of the falling rain would be like white noise throughout the day. Vanvcouer rain is, more often than not, gentle rain. A gentle pitter-patter on the window, like the rain today in Chicago.
Oh! Speaking of rain. While I’m home, I’ve kind of been hoping for a Midwest thunderstorm. Not a full-blown massive power outage storm like last July. Just one that only the Midwest can produce.
It was brief last night, but there was thunder, and there was lightning! And rain, of course, as you’d expect. But that loud crack caught me off guard. And then I was so elated! Flash of lightning. Started counting. Another crack of thunder. The things we learn, that become engrained, like habit.
So now that I’ve been re-acclimated to what life was like, I can feel myself being to push and pull back West.
There is still the past to deal with, the stuff to sort through and decide what I really want to bring and what I can pitch, donate and otherwise leave behind. One small step at a time.
I wonder what will become engrained, like habit, back West.