Column Redux

I wrote this week's column today. When I first started at the paper, I wanted my column to be a movie review column, but I couldn't get any local theaters to give me free or discounted tickets as a member of the press. So I occasionally wrote about whatever I was reading, but after a couple months it became just a place that I muse, much like this blog but a bit less personal and on a weekly basis.

Today, I wrote about exercising and how it's possibly the only time I'm truly living in the moment in a way that I can choose and control. I think I live in the moment at various times, but I don't know it's going to happen because it's based on a conversation or the indefinable quality of a really great party or just the feeling of opening the door on a surprisingly warm or chilly morning. But when I exercise, I am focused on the present in a predictable way. That's part of the appeal. Because my mind is unoccupied when I run or bike or swim, it is not infrequent that I spend part of that time fretting or planning the future or reliving the past, but most of that hour or so is spent attentive and attuned.

I say hello to babies in strollers and dogs and their owners. I sometimes sing very quietly to myself to make sure I'm really out of breath. When I need to get something out of my mind, I focus on each of my five senses one at a time: what do I see? What do I hear? and so on. When I'm in my room, in the car, at work, or with friends, I usually have a lot to pay attention to and a lot to think about. That's no less the case when I'm on the Loop or the bike, but the repetitive motion and the lack of mental stimuli bring my mind to a very different place. For once, when I see people, I'm not thinking of how they perceive me or where they've been or where they're going. I'm just taking everything in at face value and moving on to whatever captures my attention next.

Not everything I take in is pleasant. There's a Band-Aid stuck to the sidewalk that's been there for months, lots of dog poop, car alarms, and the garbage truck. But I'm thankful for all of it because I'm thankful to be outside, to be healthy enough to run or bike, and thankful for the experience of every moment, especially the ones I really and truly notice.