Like Sheep, All of You

Originally uploaded by heather.

This morning I freaked out a little en route to work. I come in around 9:00 AM, when it seems the rest of my enormous building is also arriving. The sidewalk leading to the building is narrow and everyone has to queue up, single file. This morning I looked up and we all looked like a bunch of ants scurrying in.

This bothered me because a) I am not and ant and b) it reminded me a lot of school, even though I liked school. When one is younger and in school, lines and obedience are the order of the day. As an adult, I pride myself on being able to make my own decisions. Filing into an office building at 9:00 AM with hundreds of other drones shook me. I felt like I wasn't making my own choices.

So what to do? Yesterday I was reading the new issue of Yoga Journal. There was an article about improving one's diet. The point of the article was not to do things out of habit, but rather to listen to your body and proceed from there. They used the example of breakfast. Just because you've always eaten granola and banana in the morning doesn't mean you always have to or that you should. The article encouraged yogis to listen to their bodies and make decisions from there.

That said, there may be a few changes over here on Planet Pauline. The rat race isn't pleasing me all that much, even though I like my job a lot. The act of being told where I have to be and when disturbs me, and I don't think it neccessarily jives with my natural rhythms. After all, I'm a writer, a creative sort. There must be a way to be a functioning adult but not be a slave to conformity.

I'll sort it out, no worries.