Lately, I’ve been thinking a LOT about time. Because I don’t have much. Note: Pittas always think about time. They are never late. They will do drive-bys to make sure they are not late. Don’t fault them, it’s just their nature.
Admittedly, I was spoiled in Los Angeles since my work was 1.4 miles from home (5 minutes there, 20 minutes back. Don’t ask, it’s LA traffic). I knew how good I had it, so I never took it for granted and was able to squeeze every last drop of time out of my morning including a work out, dog walk, journal writing, short meditation and a shower before leaving the house. And I got to the office at 8:00 a.m. Although I’m holding it together and have managed to keep some of my Ayurvedic habits in the San Francisco bay area, a lot has changed and even a shower is hard to come by some mornings.
It takes me 1 hour in one direction to get to downtown San Francisco (car + BART train) from home, so that’s 2 hours a day that I’ve lost. Ok, I won’t be dramatic. I’ll be accurate and say I’ve lost 1 hour 35 minutes per day, since my commute was previously 25 minutes round trip. So, 1 hour 35 minutes x 5 days is…a lot of time. Math…anyway, that is family time, workout time, and HeyMonicaB posting time. Aiiee…strapped.
Since I am 1/2 pitta, I feel I must be efficient at all times and I started thinking how I could best utilize my time on BART. It came to me that it could be the perfect time to sit and write a blog post – or at least ideas and inspirations for posts! Bingo! But, there are some variables like grabbing the train that goes directly to my stop without having to transfer. Also, I don’t always get a seat. If I miss my first train, I will have to stand because the second train will have more people on it. If it’s a Tuesday or Thursday, those tend to be more busy and I might not get a seat on the first train either. *sigh*
So you can see, how I run like clockwork and a misstep can change the whole day causing me to run into traffic, miss a train, forget my lunch, or milk for my one cup of coffee ;) Right now, I am very much a human doing rather than a human BE-ing. There is no “be.” No be! Ya feel me? I know you do. I know you might have a similar (or worse) schedule than mine so what to do we do? Where do we find time and where can we just, be? What do you do? Since my derailment, I’ve adhered to changes 1-3, but I haven’t yet figured out what feels best with my blank time on BART…and it bugs me.
Look at that. Just by writing, I might have answered my own question. What if, instead of trying to squish in blog posts on the train…I just, be. Maybe that’s my “be” space. I don’t know what will work best, but I’ll keep you posted. And if I’m not posting, maybe it’s because I’m BE-ing. Love you!
9 responses so far ↓
1 Karen // Oct 8, 2012 at 10:34 am
{{Dear husband,
See? I’m not the only one that does drive-bys.
me}}
I think you hit the nail on the head, Monica…right as I was thinking it, you wrote “just, be.” Put in some headphones with some meditation music and convert yourself into your own personal meditation temple. It’ll be hard, but we V/Ps love a challenge…
Of course, I’d feel compelled to actually turn it into a little contest with RULES…only music with no words, must do it for x days, etc. Life for me is just not that fun without a few rules in there!
k
2 Lisa Munger // Oct 8, 2012 at 10:57 am
Love you, girl. I can imagine this is particularly difficult transition during this vata-ey time of year. Bathe your self in the vata oil! :) xoxo
3 Monica // Oct 8, 2012 at 11:31 am
Ladies!! Love your notes – yes BE! Music is wonderful, tuning out and looking in is wonderful. And it CAN be done from just about anywhere. What a challenge that is, hey? Be zen while on BART…there is something to that!! Isn’t that the big, giant goal afterall? How peaceful and mindful can you stay in this crazy, crazy life? Ah, I think I am being spoken to by the Ayurvedic guides in the Universe…no doubt!!!!
4 Kelly // Oct 10, 2012 at 6:56 pm
GAWD I can so relate to this! I have a 10 week old and just went back to work. Now, I work from home. Perfect, no daycare needed. Downside? I don’t get out a ton, and since she’s home with me most all the time, finding time for me is hard! Yoga practice? Um.. right! Some days I do well to shower after getting Hubby and older boy out the door, then feed myself, go get some work done. feed the girl.. etc.etc. It’s just about finding that new balance right?!? AACK!!! And being pitta and being late all the time lately???? AACCCKKKK!!!
5 Monica // Oct 11, 2012 at 8:21 pm
Kelly! I don’t know how you are working in the house with a 10 week old – amazing!! Hang in there. Ultimately we know it’s just time…and over time we will find our balance again :)
6 Mara // Oct 12, 2012 at 8:40 pm
Hey Monica B.!
I commuted from SF to Berkely on BART for almost 8 years with similar timing as you (about 1 hour 15 minutes from apartment to desk). I tried reading or writing and finally just settled on using it as my sitting and staring out the train window time. After awhile I began to feel a sort of rhythm to the sights I saw every day and I loved seeing the quiet changes of things — oranges growing on a tree, the quality of light at different times of the year, a huge plastic duck on someone’s roof. That kind of stuff.
Wishing you lots of lovely glimpses of interesting things out the window…
M.
7 Monica // Oct 14, 2012 at 9:09 pm
Mara!! Wow…I bet you didn’t know this…but I think of you when I’m on BART ALL the time!! Maybe you are my guardian BART angel or something? I so often think of your grace and patience in both life and BARTland and when grumpy, I try to absorb your tolerance and steadiness. I will take this as a sign to keep using BART time as “be” time, just as you did. I haven’t seen a huge plastic duck, but I do see an urban chicken coop in Oakland! Anyway, your wisdom is noted, dear Mara. Miss you and can’t wait to look outside…
8 cajeta // Oct 26, 2012 at 8:52 pm
How bout keeping a slim book with you and just reading that? I discovered that I made quite a bit of progress reading in the moments waiting for bus and riding the bus. Listening to music or podcasts you wouldnt otherwise get to is great too! Now I see how my 1/2 pitta mind spins outta control too!
9 Monica // Nov 4, 2012 at 1:49 pm
I love it! Thank you Cajeta, music and podcasts are working for me – and I really appreciate your note!! xoxo
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