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Nov 20th, 2009 By Backofpack A Slow Paced Life

Even though I’ve been back in the work force for three full-time years, and am currently working part time (about 25-30 hours a week) I still find myself adjusting to the pace of the work world. I guess after 20 years of working on a part-time basis (only about 6-9 hours a week) and being a full-time stay-at-home wife and homeschooling Mom, a slower daily rhythm became ingrained in my soul.

As much as I love my new job, I miss quiet mornings at home. I like a slow start to the day, I like empty stores and streets (which are easily found around 9 am), I like getting everything done around the house by noon and having the afternoon stretch ahead of me. Now, since I have admitted to being a morning person, it should be obvious that having a work schedule that begins around 7:30 and ends around somewhere between 12:00 and 1:30 means that I am in my work world at my peak performance time. That’s a good thing. But it also means that I’m at my peak lazy time when I get home. It’s awfully easy to talk myself out of chores, or errands, or class-prep or grading or Pilates or even another run.

I know how incredibly lucky I am to be able to work part time, and I am not complaining at all. In fact, I love my job and would jump at the chance to work full time. Really, it’s more that I am a homebody at heart – I could hang around the house for days on end, with an occasional foray out to the world for food and books and visits with friends, and be very happy. I also realize that all of the things I’ve described are probably on the wish list of everyone who works full time. Maybe what I feel is a simple longing for days gone by, when the boys were little and we were all home together.

So, even though I expected to be adjusted to a new daily pace after more than three years, I find I still need quiet, slow days at home, days where I can move at my own easy tempo. I find myself building easy days into every month to keep myself centered – this weekend is one of them. I’m looking forward to it.

As I think about this, it becomes apparent to me that my running rhythm matches my natural life rhythm: slow and easy. And maybe that’s why I like small marathons – smaller, friendlier crowds. Funny, the more I think about it, the more I realize that running is an echo of my life – built in rest days each week, high mileage for a couple weeks, then a low mileage, easy week…I wonder which is a reflection of which? Life echoes running or running echoes life? It doesn’t really matter because whichever way it is, it works for me!