30 days meme; day 13 "Transportation"
Can't sleep, clowns will eat me. It's been a weird few nights. I find myself in the throes of insomnia (not the weird part) because I've got too much nervous energy (that's the weird part). Usually my insomnia manifests as me being tired but unable to sleep, with no apparent cause. However, the past 4 nights I've been awake, not tired at all, and unable to be still. I have literally paced the floor each night - for hours - and I can't stop moving my hands. Don't know where this is coming from, either. I have my suspicions, but they're really more like wild guesses. Silver lining, though: A post is coming out of this.
One thing that doing this 30 days meme has driven home is that I have other, more important things to do. Odd, isn't it? Here I have a goal, a task, something I could use to be proud of myself*, and it just shows me that there's much to take precedence over it. That's a good realization, but is it pathetic that I'm only getting it now? It sounds rather pathetic, which I guess that means that I'm pathetically oblivious to myself. Probably best for me to just to accept that, because it's going to be very difficult to get around. Besides, it's not exactly a surprise. Anyway, that all means I won't be doing this every day - but that's obvious, what with me not having posted for a while.
None of that is relevant to the subject of this post, though, so let's move on.
When I started this entry - on the day it was due, mind you - the first thing I wrote was that I didn't travel by car. But then R drove me home that night, and I remembered that, while I may not drive, I do travel by car sometimes, thanks to friends. The car bit of that isn't really important, but the friends bit is, and that warrants acknowledgement - more than acknowledgment, really. I'm grateful to those of you who help me get places I couldn't otherwise reach, and so grateful to those of you who are willing to go out of your way just to ease my commute.
The T is my primary mode of transportation, legs secondary. (I'd prefer legs to be primary, but time constraints prevent that.) I grew up taking the T, all the way back to when I was a baby and had to be strapped into a Snuggli. I didn't take it alone until I was 12, when I started Latin school, which is in an entirely different part of Boston. My mother was really nervous about it, my father was excited and I was thrilled. As Latin school went on, though, my backpack got heavier and heavier, and my thrill became inversely proportional to the weight of my bag. Traveling independently is great and all, but carrying a minimum of 60lbs (usually closer to 80lbs - my bag once weighed more than me, actually) during an hour-long commute really diminishes the fun.
Luckily, I don't need to do that anymore. These days the most I have to carry is my gaming stuff. It's still a heavy load, but it's not nearly as bad as my old backpack. Easing the load brought much of the thrill back, and I still feel it now, even though I'm 27 instead of 12.
As to legs, I walk a lot and I like it a lot. Partly it's the exertion, partly the experience and partly the freedom it offers. I don't have to depend on the T to be running or someone to drive me. If I need to, I can walk. Granted, there are times when I do not want to walk, when it isn't feasible, or times/places that it is not safe for me to walk. Still, I get a rush just thinking about the fact that I can go anywhere, whenever I choose. In fact, I once walked from my friends' house in Waltham to my house in Dorchester. (In 3"-heeled boots, no less.) Every step of that walk felt like winning.
Oddly enough, this post wouldn't be complete without mentioning music. As far as I'm concerned, movement+music is one of the best things in life. I don't have an mp3 player anymore, (mine died of old age), but when I did I wouldn't travel anywhere without it, and it made me relish the thought of having to go somewhere. Listening to music while moving was joyful, exciting - even soothing. It cleared my head, relaxed me, recharged me. There are very few ways to bring out introversion in me, and this is the major one.
I also like airplanes, especially when there's a little turbulence, but they're hardly a standard mode for me. :)
*I know, I know, a meme is not the sort of thing that should inspire pride in myself, but I'm weird and a little broken.
One thing that doing this 30 days meme has driven home is that I have other, more important things to do. Odd, isn't it? Here I have a goal, a task, something I could use to be proud of myself*, and it just shows me that there's much to take precedence over it. That's a good realization, but is it pathetic that I'm only getting it now? It sounds rather pathetic, which I guess that means that I'm pathetically oblivious to myself. Probably best for me to just to accept that, because it's going to be very difficult to get around. Besides, it's not exactly a surprise. Anyway, that all means I won't be doing this every day - but that's obvious, what with me not having posted for a while.
None of that is relevant to the subject of this post, though, so let's move on.
When I started this entry - on the day it was due, mind you - the first thing I wrote was that I didn't travel by car. But then R drove me home that night, and I remembered that, while I may not drive, I do travel by car sometimes, thanks to friends. The car bit of that isn't really important, but the friends bit is, and that warrants acknowledgement - more than acknowledgment, really. I'm grateful to those of you who help me get places I couldn't otherwise reach, and so grateful to those of you who are willing to go out of your way just to ease my commute.
The T is my primary mode of transportation, legs secondary. (I'd prefer legs to be primary, but time constraints prevent that.) I grew up taking the T, all the way back to when I was a baby and had to be strapped into a Snuggli. I didn't take it alone until I was 12, when I started Latin school, which is in an entirely different part of Boston. My mother was really nervous about it, my father was excited and I was thrilled. As Latin school went on, though, my backpack got heavier and heavier, and my thrill became inversely proportional to the weight of my bag. Traveling independently is great and all, but carrying a minimum of 60lbs (usually closer to 80lbs - my bag once weighed more than me, actually) during an hour-long commute really diminishes the fun.
Luckily, I don't need to do that anymore. These days the most I have to carry is my gaming stuff. It's still a heavy load, but it's not nearly as bad as my old backpack. Easing the load brought much of the thrill back, and I still feel it now, even though I'm 27 instead of 12.
As to legs, I walk a lot and I like it a lot. Partly it's the exertion, partly the experience and partly the freedom it offers. I don't have to depend on the T to be running or someone to drive me. If I need to, I can walk. Granted, there are times when I do not want to walk, when it isn't feasible, or times/places that it is not safe for me to walk. Still, I get a rush just thinking about the fact that I can go anywhere, whenever I choose. In fact, I once walked from my friends' house in Waltham to my house in Dorchester. (In 3"-heeled boots, no less.) Every step of that walk felt like winning.
Oddly enough, this post wouldn't be complete without mentioning music. As far as I'm concerned, movement+music is one of the best things in life. I don't have an mp3 player anymore, (mine died of old age), but when I did I wouldn't travel anywhere without it, and it made me relish the thought of having to go somewhere. Listening to music while moving was joyful, exciting - even soothing. It cleared my head, relaxed me, recharged me. There are very few ways to bring out introversion in me, and this is the major one.
I also like airplanes, especially when there's a little turbulence, but they're hardly a standard mode for me. :)
*I know, I know, a meme is not the sort of thing that should inspire pride in myself, but I'm weird and a little broken.