Full circle

I am a creature of habit and routine. I get up at the same time every morning without an alarm clock. I sleep at the same time. I have a routine when I get up, work, have lunch, leave the office, get home.

I like sticking to a schedule. It relaxes me. There's something satisfying about knowing what comes next. It's like watching a movie you've seen before. Re-reading Shakespeare.

But then sometimes you need to travel, and your routines run out of whack. You get up in a hotel room, go to a place you've never been before, meet new people, discuss new things. You don't know what lunch is until lunch time. You don't know when the day will end, what you will be doing in 3 hours.

I get antsy when breaking my routine. I feel like I'm missing out on something. I am constantly thinking of what other thing I should be doing; what the routine says I should be doing.

But after a few days I let go, and living outside of the routine is a pleasant, sometimes wonderful experience. You respond to things as they occur, not by anticipating the inevitable. You examine things for the first time and then put them aside for yet other things. Everything is new and stimulating. You think of so many things at once, not enough to have a meaningful insight about any one thing, but it does not matter. You're on the go.

And when you get that way, when you're gliding over things and not paying attention to detail, your natural reaction is to stop.

You stop and delve into things and inquire. You do this slowly, methodically, purposefully. You establish a pattern of thought and behavior. A method of examining the world around you.

And before you know it, you're back at your routine.