We leave for a big trip today. We will be away from home for 19 days. While there is excitement about the adventure, the launch is always such a drag.
There is packing, checking in for flights and doing laundry. There is arranging the cat sitter, the snow shoveler, and stopping the mail. There is dealing with international bureaucracies and poorly translated websites while applying for visas and travel permits for three different countries.
But for me prepping for a trip like this brings out a lurking monster. It’s the monster of all of the stuff I should have done months, weeks and days ago that suddenly feels urgent. This time around, I suddenly felt drawn to…
- Clean out the basement and making sure my new studio space felt cute.
- Test about 50 Sharpie pens to see which ones still worked.
- Return eight pairs of pants, one kitchen faucet, one book and a set of measuring spoons to Amazon.
- Send get well cards to a friend and the mother of a friend.
- Vacuum the deep recesses of my closet.
- Organize my exercise gear drawer.
And, most ludicrous of all, making a lemon-lime-mandarin potion with all the citrus in my fruit bowl that will go bad before we return. So, in addition to everything else I had to do to prepare for the trip, I spent time juicing several dried out lemons, limes and mandarins mixing them with simple syrup rescued from a remote corner of the refrigerator and luring my family to the kitchen for a refreshing glass of mystery beverage. I don’t know why but using up that fruit instead of pitching it gave me a deep sense of satisfaction.
Could it be the anxiety of all of the unknowns related to a big trip the energizes me? Maybe I control the things I can and that gives me a sense of calm. I don’t know for certain why I allow the monster to appear but I will say that I am happy with the jobs I accomplished.
Before we leave there are a few more jobs to be accomplished. As soon as I’m done I will close the door behind me and venture into the unknown of our adventure. I will do this calmly, confident that my fabric napkins will be well organized and predictably awaiting my return.
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P.S. It is not lost on me that in addition to everything else I have had to do, I wrote two blog posts in the last 24-hours. Like the six bullets above writing just suddenly felt urgent.