Like awakening from a dream, or exiting a movie that sweeps you away, rejoining the rest of the world is like stepping off a playground merry-go-round. There's an abrupt shift in speed, perception, mindset, emotion. And periodically, I find that sensation when I become engrossed in reading, projects, music, anything that absorbs my attention & separates me from my routine. Which is frequently.
I'm not alone. Someone looks up and remarks, "Oh, look at the time!" I have yet to learn to meditate deeply. However, I "throw away the clock" when I pop weeds from the lawn. It's a cinch I will never overtake them, but the small progress I make is secondary to the soothing, repetitive motion. It's almost hypnotic. I've been surprised more than once when a passing doe snorted her warning to her fawns, having tip-toed to within 50 feet of me.
When I jogged regularly, I would similarly pass into that ethereal realm, attuned to the rhythm of my shoes contacting the path, my breathing audible in my ears, peripherally aware of danger such as dogs or bicycles while detached from the scenery outside my own skin. Any interaction with a pedestrian would bring me out of my revery, a struggle to merge back into the current time zone. Would it surprise you to know long drives put me in the same state?
I drift almost trance-like into that state of suspended animation when I sit down to my keyboard and pull up a blank page, rather like the white sheet in the adjacent typewriter, reminding me of my Dad's old portable. And I am home. Everything brings to mind a familiar passage I've read, an experience or sensation, analogies by the score, a funny story. Old friends. Then a phone rings, real life intruding on the past, or the future-tripping.
If these experiences resonate with you, I have companions on my journey. I welcome you to this adventure!
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