Time flies by

I can't decide if summer goes by faster when you're at home--mainly staying in one place--or exploring new territory. In the past, I've had more extended travel experiences that broke off the summer into segments, and now, any travel I plan is on weekends for quick trips out of town. Living in other cities for those longer periods of time requires adjustment time and sometimes has felt slow, but you always leave feeling like there was more to do and how the experience flew by. Being at home, in Chicago for that matter, has given me a different concept of time. A different mindset than I have while I'm at school or traveling.

At school, I'm always mentally ahead of where I need to be, logistics-wise. My schedule has always revolved around others--classes, meetings, activities & friends--and you have to keep yourself up to speed. At the end of every night, all of my stuff is put away and I'm prepared to start off fresh in the morning, ready to go for the next day's plans. Sleep is irrelevant, because my outfit needs to be laid out, transportation planned & the day is on a pretty strict timeline. I guess you could call it living for the future.

At home, I'm living in the present. Waking up, getting on the train, conquering the ~hour commute to work each way, working the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. life, having some sort of social plans and suddenly, it's 10 p.m. already. Go to bed, rinse, lather, repeat. Just kidding, but the process goes on. I often feel like I never left work once I return there in the morning. Each week goes by as its own entity, each weekend after, and the cycle continues. Suddenly, three weeks of relaxation and six weeks in the work force have gone by. I've rarely slept for more than six hours on any night and can't seem to catch a break. Unfortunately, as a result, I feel like I'm constantly falling behind on my own goals and living in rewind. 

But just because I haven't gotten to achieve my to do list of scrapbooking, cleaning or completing other long term projects doesn't mean it hasn't been an enjoyable summer. Forcing myself to do one of these things instead of taking up spontaneous plans would contradict living in the present. Catching up with an old friend or high school acquaintance on the train might be more valuable than rushing to read a book to cross it off of a list. Visiting Milwaukee, Champaign, Kansas City, Mexico & San Diego in the past few weeks has been incredibly fun, even if I haven't vacuumed my room but stare at that instruction on my to do list daily. I enjoy quality time with high school and college friends-in person, oh the phone or via email-- and it's great.

So will this worldview of living in the present translate to my graduate school career? Or will I need to revert back to planning SO FAR ahead? I'll have my own bedroom (and bathroom!) for the first time and will already have plans you on more of your own time instead of what it's like living with roommates. Two semesters will already go by quickly, but do you make more out of it by living in the present, the future or a combination of the two? I guess we will see as time goes on!