Clarity

It has been a week and a half since I have been here (feels like so much longer). On my commutes to work, I often wonder why my mind has felt so clear – no major decisions to be made or complicated scenarios to contemplate. I credit some of this to being on a different pace of the semester; while my online class at my home university is in full swing, the students here have another week before classes resume. This additional time has given me a moment to adjust to my new life and also ease into the semester without the normal hustle and bustle of juggling multiple groups of students at once. But today I took a moment to reflect on other aspects of my life here that have made such a profound impact on me in such a short period of time.

In no particular order, I will start with physical activity. People have asked if I plan to “hire” a car here. My answer has consistently been “absolutely not”. I have been looking forward to being in a walkable community and not having to drive. For the last week and a half I have walked everywhere … to dinner, to get coffee, to and from the grocery store, as well as to and from work. It has helped that my walk to work is along a path that is 100% parallel to the sea – not a bad view at all :-). This increased physical activity has been good for my body and soul. It has given me an increased amount of quiet time as I haven’t used headphones during any of my commutes. It has given me extra time to be grateful and enjoy nature. And it has helped me sleep better at night as by the time I go to bed I have logged anywhere from 7k to 25k steps a day and I am beat!

The time difference has also had an impact. When I wake up in the morning, most of my friends are either fast asleep on the east coast or winding down for the night on the west coast. This means between the hours of 6 or 7 a.m. (depending on when I wake up) and around 12 p.m., my life is relatively quiet. No one is texting or emailing or IMing me. This extended quiet time has helped me set the pace and tone of my day with minimal distractions. It has also given me time to settle into my own mood for the day before taking on the energy of others.

I have limited WiFi. Although I was originally annoyed by this, I have come to embrace this reality. I can’t download most videos on social media or receive/send Marco Polos (a video messaging app) with ease. I can’t send pictures and it takes forever to download pictures sent to me via text message. This new reality has limited how much time I spend on social media, but also how often I am in touch with others. I have opted to send group Marco Polo updates. I don’t even bother waiting for pictures sent via text messages or videos on social media to download. BUT this limited access has also significantly impacted how and when I work. Until yesterday, I had to go downstairs or to campus (two miles away) to do “major” work like reading large files, responding to detailed emails, or uploading large documents. Not one email or task was missed, but I was forced to consolidate my work hours and have a finite start-finish time. Yet again, I have had more quiet time and time to focus on more productive things, like my academic writing and class engagement, while also having some boundaries around how and when these things occur.

Finally, I can’t figure out my TV settings. It takes me a senseless amount of time to find a show I want to watch and once I do, it seems to only last for 30 minutes! For the last few days I have avoided trying to find something to watch at all and resorted to listening to music only.

The common theme is that my external distractions have been significantly limited. Additionally, I have to be that much more intentional about who I welcome into my space and how, i.e. chatting via What’s App or texting or foregoing communication altogether if it becomes a hassle. In this regard, the amount of people I have been in touch with has already decreased and I imagine it will continue to do so. I am more active and more present with my surroundings. I have become a better steward of my time and energy. Once again, it has only been a week and a half. I look forward to experiencing what the weeks and months will bring. On a grander scale, I look forward to replicating these practices in my life back at home.