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I can't be alone in thinking during my busy and often delayed commute to work in London, that if we each average 4,000 weeks on this blessed earth, as writer Oliver Borkman so profitably points out, that's a bad thing. Way to spend a high percentage of that time.
But, of course, if I were alone, the problem would not arise. I'm going home where I can earn my peel without any distractions and no one else's scents — or videos — intruding.
I loved the center line. It was a daily gift to be effortlessly cruised through the streets from west to east on its magic carpet – wow! In my first job out of college, it was a place to immerse myself in the greats: I can remember commutes spent reading Anna Karenina on the same trains I sit on today (or its predecessors) as long as I don't dwell on railways. -Themed tragic ending.
Move joy, indeed. But I don't have time for that at the moment – I have to switch to the always-baking Bakerloo Line, which is a huge tandoor for cooking humans. I then start multitasking and responding to emails with my fellow travelers. We're basically at work.
What's worse is that the vague grinding sounds the tube makes can't quite drown out the psychological buzz created by the frenetic use of mindfulness apps. Atomic habits aside, these are radiant levels of desperation – the search for a little tech-enabled calm in the urban storm.
There is no doubt that mental health podcasts and self-improvement plans help many people during emergencies and chronic problems. But is frenetic meditation better for you than just staring into space or people-watching? I admit it got a little rough with William Blake sometimes. 'Signs of woe' on 'every face' tend to be the case most around 8.45am in the middle of the week.
Series: Return navigation
After lockdowns interrupted daily routines, workers are now back at their offices and need to travel to get there. But mobility has changed in unexpected ways.
Part 1: Mobility is back, but not as we know it
Part Two: Super Passenger Boarding
Part Three: Zen and the art of moving outside areas
Zoning is a life skill. Most of the liminal spaces and slivers of time have been stolen by fearsome modern enemies: the ubiquitous smartphone and the desire to maximize every second of productivity. Each is responsible for forging today's “mind-made chains,” to quote Blake again.
If life is a journey, if we use a universal metaphor, then I agree that it is not ideal if it is a recurring journey with the same destination every working day. But hopefully traveling is better than arriving – and when you let your mind loose, it brings unexpected joys and nourishing daydreams. Maybe that sexy woman's shoes. Profile of this man. What is a draw? You wonder. Why a tie? Isn't the city a victory for human will?
Male readers are probably thinking of ancient Rome at this point anyway – go ahead, stroke yourselves at the dangling grape clusters of your imagination.
One post-Covid idea, if you can manage it: A good trick is to get work done at home early, then travel to enjoy the office fun later in the morning – even during lunch. This avoids collisions and makes it more likely to think about the same dirty tiles, or feel your hand wiping the same rough fabric of subway seats.
And for those committed to the doctrine of liminal spaces and stolen moments, here's a way to recreate the benefits (in the event of another pandemic lockdown). This crazy graphic tapestry of London's bus, train and tube network is now on special display in the Transport Museum's online store, making the whimsical atmosphere of rush hour achievable at home: the 'mocket', as it's known, can be yours frugal 16 £ per metre. I can sew my center line and read War and Peace.
Miranda. green@ft.com
