Daily Grind

Response to prompt #25. I love Canty's story and simply tried to mimic a bit of his writing style.

My work is challenging. I pack a bag, rent a car, load the car, plug in my iPod and set out on the open road. Really, not so open. More like under construction and filled with traffic. The commuters and tourists battle it out in will and in lane space. I drive. I stop for a Starbucks coconut milk mocha macchiato for a caffeine buzz and a sugar boost. Sometimes I also get egg white bites for protein. I know the best places to stop for gas and the exits to avoid like the plague. Mobil, cleanest bathrooms. RaceTrac, best beverage and candy selection. Ellentown too fucking crowded.

I wonder why traveling makes me so tired. Some days I drive more than I work. I take calls. I do Skype meetings. All in the car. I am often late or early because my life is dictated by the flow of traffic. I'm learning to live with it. It doesn't bother me much. I am working. I share hotel lobbies with people on vacation. They swim, and I work. They sleep in, and I head out. I am sometimes lodged in a room beside the elevator. The manager asks at check-out how she can make it up to me after I've lost a night's sleep because of the whirring of the up and down and the clunk from the landing on each floor. Not just my floor. All the floors. "Nothing, really" I answer. I've lost a night's sleep not my sense of decency. I don't need a free room or a complimentary breakfast. Just sleep. "Maybe I'll just make a note to myself to request rooms away from the elevator," I say to her mirroring her politeness. And people. Especially hallway relay-racing kids, I think to myself.

I tell everyone I'm doing fine. I think I am, because I love my job. There are signs though. Out of character signs of fatigue and the need for some time off, maybe a vacation. And all these feelings of passion and accomplishment about my work, they make it hard to admit the truth. I'm tired. It's a good tired. But tired nonetheless. I need to learn to say no sometimes. I am multi-tasking too much and losing track of my things. On my most recent trip, I lost my iPad. I know. And I lost my designer sunglasses. Costas my husband bought me for my birthday. I lost track. I don't even know if my things are lost or were stollen. It doesn't matter. Both are gone. Signs from the universe to slow down.  It's ok to lose material things. Not so much your mind or your life.

Note to self: Slow down. Pay attention. Keep your head in the game. It's okay to pull off the road,  and take in the daybreak. Or a vast green field with an open blue sky. Or a unique cloud formation. Or the salty air exhaled by a shimmery waterway. Nature makes her own schedule. So do I. If we meet up once in awhile, I for one, will never be lost.