Why are we always in such a hurry? Why do we rush through life?

This is a question that has been in the back of my mind for some time, but I've been thinking about it a lot more since the beginning of the summer. I did a lot of house-sitting over the summer, and therefore had the use of other people's cars. (I do not yet have one of my own.) I am from Connecticut and people are always in a hurry there, but I stayed in sweet little Greencastle Indiana for the summer, and guess what? People are in a hurry even here! The experience of driving to and from work everyday, plus trips to the store and to see friends, has increased my awareness of how impatient people are on the road, and due to that observation I've been thinking about how impatient people are in life as well. I'll start with the road, since I think that is a very obvious example, yet a very insightful key to other areas of life.

Greencastle is a sweet, homey little town, and is really very beautiful in the surrounding countryside. The homes I stayed at were all just out of town in lovely, friendly little neighborhoods. To get to the last home I stayed at you leave all the main roads behind and drive on a twisty little country road, and boy was it ever scenic! Once you leave town the landscape just opens up, there are a few hills with great views and little farms here and there. Oh I loved that drive. The road starts at 30 mph, later increasing to 45 mph, but cars would always pile up behind me because I was going the speed limit, then go roaring past me at the first opportunity. Why? Why were they so impatient? The summer was fairly mild, perfect for driving with the windows down, and the mornings were absolutely lovely. Why then were people in such a rush to get where they were going rather than enjoying the life around them? I've been teased about being a "cloud-watcher", and it is true that as a passenger in a car I spend most of my time looking at the clouds and all the scenery around rather than paying the slightest attention to how we were getting to wherever we were going. (Thus my wretched sense of direction.) I've always been a nature lover, but it doesn't necessarily follow that you have to be a nature lover to enjoy life instead of rushing through it.

Back to the road. When I would drive to work in the morning I could somewhat understand the impatience of the other drivers. They just wanted to get to work too, and this young girl was stubbornly going the speed limit, if not a couple miles under. But you know what? If they weren't always in such a rush and oblivious to the beauties of life around them, they could plan to leave just 5-10 minutes earlier and enjoy the drive to work! Is everything really about saving those couple minutes? People try to find all the shortcuts, "save" a minute here and there, shave off a couple seconds from this or that, but why? For what? What do they do with those few minutes of saved time?

So ok, people will be impatient on the road in the morning because they just want to get to work as quickly as possible, right? Well then, why is it that in the middle of a lovely afternoon, people are still impatient as ever on the road? Why is it that any time of the day at all, everyone's just in one big rush? You know, for many people, the time they spend on the road is the closest thing they'll get to enjoying nature. The rest of the time they're locked away in a little cubicle typing away on a computer, or glued to the couch watching TV. Why not enjoy the break from all that and take your time on the road? If I had a car I would totally go out on pleasure drives. As it is, I rarely use my bike and walk everywhere instead. (The best part about that is the opportunity to go barefoot... :D :D :D)

I just don't understand why people are so concerned with getting wherever they're going as fast as possible, and not only that, but why they are determined to do so while secluding themselves from all interaction with people and/or nature. I was talking with a professor earlier this week about how travel has changed over the years. Everyone used to use trains, and taking the train used to be a very social thing. People talked with each other, there were dinner cars, concerts, bars, card games, all kinds of stuff. Now if you take a train, you keep to your own seat and ignore everyone else. Same thing with buses and planes now. You may be forced to travel with other people, but you can still seclude yourself from everyone. Yay for technology... Phones, ipods, computers, mini DVD players, etc. And then we have the car. You drive to work alone in your personal metal cage, secluding yourself from all the others on the road in their own metal cages.

I guess I just don't really belong to this day and age. But I'm stuck here and there's really not anything I can do about it. Maybe someday I can live in a quiet little town similar to Greencastle. I'd like to be away from the bustle of life, yet still have people around and have some simple stores in the vicinity. I'd like to be friends with the people in my neighborhood and to have a friendly, close community. But I don't know if my prospective profession will allow me that life. I may end up needing to drive into a busy city somewhere to work at a hospital or some such place. I know that if that's where I'm needed, I'll go, but I refuse to actually live in a city. I would kill myself if I had to do that. But who knows, perhaps I'll end up working in a smalltown hospital or nursing home. I'd like that a lot. I'll write a post about all my career thoughts later on. (I realize that I never actually migrated away from the road and so did not talk about the other areas of life in which people rush and are impatient. Oh well, thoughts for another post.) But for now, I am going to enjoy an absolutely lovely Saturday in the fall.

Oh life.....

So the day has come when I once again have a computer.... except that I no longer have my power cord.... they have lost it. Meh. Hopefully going four weeks without easy access to a computer will help me to limit the amount of time I spend on my computer now. But you know, I just don't have any time on my hands anyway. This semester is sooo crazy. If I manage to survive with some semblance of sanity intact, it will be a miracle. I just may have taken on more than I can handle right now... but darn it all, I am going to stick with it all! But oh man..... 9 classes.... plus 12 hours of work a week..... plus homework, practicing...... eating..... sleep? *sigh* There's no way all of those things can happen, or at least not to a sufficient degree. But ack, can't start complaining. I have been having some fun as well. I love living with my girls, even if I rarely see them, and even if the dudes downstairs play their music so loud you can feel the bass thrumming through your bed.... but that's why I have purchased ear plugs. :) One thing that's helping me cope is my knitting group. (I'm a crocheter, actually, but they let me join them, haha.) I have planned into my schedule twice a week when we all meet, and even though I usually end up doing homework during our noontime meeting halfway through the week, it's still nice to relax with those wonderful ladies. I have really grown to love so many people from this community, and I'm so glad I have so many good friends I can go to if I need to, or to just know that they are there for me.

Other random tidbits, since my mind is wandering and I should go to bed soon.....
-First orchestra concert of the season is on Sunday, it's going to be fun! We haven't had as long to rehearse as we'd like, but oh well, we'll be fine.
-I'm back to my anonymous vandalizing of my professor's door..... well ok, not vandalism, but... mischief I suppose you could say. Harmless mischief. :P
-More people have been noticing my barefeet this past month than the past two years, it's pretty awesome! It's funny how you can go a couple years before people finally start to notice there's something a little odd going on...

Ok, that's all for now. I will have to write again later, and hopefully something substantial, unlike my posts up to date.