guided meditation

Dear K-

Are you the type that works better when you have procrastinated? On the radio once I heard about a study conducted that tried to determine if people were more successfully productive if they accomplished things well ahead of a deadline or if they procrastinated and waited until the last minute to complete the task. I’ll skip past the introduction and methods and get right to the meat of it: the most productive and best results came when people started something, didn’t finish, and came back to it a couple times before the actual deadline. Waiting to the absolute last moment before completing the entire project was not effective, because the result was usually sloppy and rushed. But completing the assignment well ahead of time was also not the ideal, because usually the subject went with the first idea they had and while it might have felt good to get the task completed so he/she could move on to other assignments, the result wasn’t as good as when they had time to think about the project and change the idea a few times and work on it more later. So I guess what I am trying to say is don’t get stressed that you have been putting things off. Sometimes a little procrastination is just the ticket for a more creative and thoughtful approach.

I had a strange moment in the middle of an exam today. Sometimes, during the most repetitive parts of my job, my brain will occasionally wander for a moment. Usually it never ventures too far, but occasionally I will get a non sequitur idea that takes me by surprise. It hits me like a bolt out of nowhere. Today, I suddenly remembered sitting in a specific room on the campus of where we went to college, in the science building. It was a conference room on the third floor where small groups could meet to study, work on projects, or for classes, such as my 8 person class for my junior year that revolved entirely around the pronghorn antelope. I would intentionally arrive early to this class and sit alone in the conference room because I found it so peaceful. The windows stretched from the ceiling to nearly the floor on three of the four walls, flooding the room with natural light and providing an excellent view of one of the busiest sections of campus. Sitting up there, a few stories above the hustle and bustle of students on the quad below, I’d watch people as they went about their day. The room was well insulated so it was completely quiet. It felt like you were watching a silent film. Some students would put their heads down and bee-line to their destination, avoiding all distraction. Others would actively stop and chat when they saw a familiar face. Sometimes someone would sit down on the ledge to the fountain and open a book, killing time between classes or until their friend showed up to meet them. I can’t explain why, but this made me so happy. It was calming. I liked being in that room alone. I liked the quiet. I liked watching lives unfold in front of me from the comfort of a sterile room, above it all. That conference room was one of my favorite places on campus. If I could have sat there all day with a cup of tea and a book and just watched people coming and going beneath me, I think few things would have made me happier.

I haven’t thought of that room in years. I wonder why I thought of it today. I’d like to find another place that makes me feel that calm and comforted again. Although if I did, I may be hesitant to ever leave it.

Wandering in reverie,

-k