There's an old song about the vagrant lifestyle, which celebrate hte simplicity of having no material ties - no phone, no pool, no pets, no permanent job or pressure or roots. I think of it often when riding.
The underrated beauty of riding is that concentration needs to be near-absolute. Two wheels and a helmet are the perfect excuse not to answer the phone, not to red emails, not to be available to all and sundry. I know there are bluetooth headsets, ways to connect both to a pillion or another rider, and to my phone, but there's a reason I don't actually own any. I don't want to be connected 24/7, and I really don't want my job to think I can be. Or should be. The trouble with flexible working and smart technology is the tendency for that to translate as Permanently On Call for Work.
Riding, with earplugs, helmet, loud pipes and statistically high risk factors is the perfect excuse to unplug, and focus on the present, no further forward than needed to anticipate the traffic. You could even call it that 21st century buzzword - mindfulness.
 |
| MOVING MEDITATION |
No comments:
Post a Comment