Sidetracked

An annoying side effect of real life (which for me, at the moment, consists of planning lectures, giving lectures, creating exams, grading exams, grading assignments, figuring out how I'm going to get funded for next year, figuring out how to spend the grant money that I've already gotten so that I don't get taxed on it, communicating with my dissertation committee on my research progress, trying to actually make some progress on my dissertation, in addition to grocery shopping, eating, cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc etc etc) is that much of the peace of mind that I gained in Berlin has flown out the window. This became obvious last week when I stopped sleeping and couldn't sit down to meditate for 10 minutes because I was distracted by all of the things that I could get done in 10 minutes if I wasn't cross-legged on the floor. On Tuesday night I went to yoga for the first time in a week and felt a sliver of peacefulness make its way back into my mind. Then yesterday I stopped by the Foggy Bottom farmer's market and felt more peacefulness creeping up on me as I looked at vegetables and talked with farmers. So today, despite the Mt. Everest size of my to-do list, I made myself leave my office early to sit on the ground and get dirty at a community garden where I've been volunteering. Then I went to yoga and got together with a good friend to eat dinner, catch up, have fun, and laugh and relax. I'm getting back on track.....slowly but surely.