Rhythm

Did you ever complete an every day task and suddenly realize how much satisfaction you get from that task?

I just wrote two quick emails, quick requests to talk to people I've never met before but who could become great little profiles for a college publication.

As I typed out these simple requests on my keyboard I realized that my fingers just effortlessly found the keys they needed, and that my brain found focus and a small amount of serenity in the rhythm of spelling words, punctuation, and spacing. I had myself a zen moment.

The last time I had a zen moment like that I was running on a treadmill and suddenly the noise of the gym didn't matter. I was in my body and I was running (as much as one can on a treadmill) and my breath didn't matter, my feet didn't matter, the speed on the display, the calories burned, the time that had passed, it all didn't matter. For a second I was just running. It was fantastic.

I don't get those moments of completeness often.

But sending out those email made me think about how I learned to touch type.

I had recently arrived on the UNH campus to get my bachelors degree. Though I was a non-traditional student I chose to live in a freshman dorm so I could have the complete college experience. (I made it through a year and felt ten years older than when I arrived at the campus in the fall. Living with the young and wild is exhilarating and exhausting all at the same time.) I had been a hunt and peck typist for most of my life, and really did a lot of writing by hand in high school because I just didn't have a type writer and didn't realize that handing in a typed report would look better than a hand written report. I was blissfully out of touch. So anyway, I'm in this tiny dorm room, drifting off to sleep, when I realized that I was spelling words. Why on earth I was spelling words while I was trying to fall asleep is beyond my.

My brain likes to play while I'm falling asleep sometimes, like the time I started to whistle just as I was drifting off. It was a little unsettling for my husband, but he understood.

As my brain is spelling these words I start to wake myself up just a little bit. I don't want to wake up all the way because I want to know what I'm spelling and why. As I pulled myself toward consciousness I saw a computer keyboard in front of me and my sight focused on the letters I needed as they were laid out in front of me. I thought that was pretty interesting, and then let myself fall asleep.

When I woke up the next morning I could still vividly remember my spelling dream so I sat down at the computer to see how well I could do without looking at the keys. I wasn't some 100 wpm prodigy, but I could type without looking at the keyboard. Something I didn't think I could do. A few quick lessons with Mavis Beacon and I was set.

It is absolutely amazing to me that my brain was learning while I wasn't paying any conscious attention. I know it's possible, but it's always a pleasant surprise when it happens.

Of course, I in no way connect this to the first time I tried smoking the funny stuff and it upset my stomach so bad that I booted all over the back step of my boyfriends house. A few months later I had this dream where I was smoking with some Bob Marley looking dude and I could handle myself after that.

I wish I had more dreams really.

I wish I had more moments of zen too.

Here's wishing you a warm winter and solstice, and many moments of zen, typing or otherwise.