Going the Long Way Around
On the way into work lately, I’ve been taking the long way in. It adds a few extra minutes to my trip and it’s definitely not the straightest line between two points. (Which, I realize might baffle some of you at first read. More on that in a second.) But to me, it’s worth it to leave a few minutes early and take the windy, back way. Why do I do this? Why do I got out of my way and choose the longer route?
Simple: because it’s much prettier.
Instead of driving over the potholes and past the car dealerships and stores, my route takes me over the bike path and alongside the river, which is very full this summer. It takes me through neighborhoods where kids are playing and colorful flowers are blooming. It takes me up dead man’s curve where I can do a little zoom-zoom because there isn’t as much traffic.
About mid-June I started to notice these beautiful wildflowers along the side of the road. Their pinks and oranges drew me in and I noticed that I had slowed down and that I was full-on grinning: from ear to ear. One day I was so captivated by them that I pulled over and took
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pictures so that I wouldn't forget the power of noticing and the counterintutive impact of going the long way around.
I’ve also been turning the news off on these short, morning commutes. I either leave the radio off all together or I play beautiful music that inspires my heart. This new morning ritual is my small, tangible way of saying “no” to the noise.
It's my quiet protest against the tyranny of the urgent. Every time I go this way, I remind myself that efficiency is not my highest value.
After all, one can be efficient at all the wrong things.
Instead, I want my life to be marked by effectiveness. And being truly purposeful in this life means tending to my inner world and slowing my pace so that I am mindful. When I take the long way in, I notice small things. Like the kind of beauty that exists when a wildflower grows up through the unused railroad tracks. Or the way the mist clings over the surface of the river. And, also, how full the river banks look right now after all the Autumn rain. Or the way the reds are so very vibrant as the leaves change on the maple tree on the corner. Or the implied joy of a little bike leaning on its side in a quiet front yard while kids are at school. Somehow this does something for my heart that following taillights, hurrying past dealerships, and being alerted to the latest pumpkin milkshake flavor at Swenson’s does not. {wink}