Looking out of the window of the train, I see the looks people wear upon their faces. I wonder what is going through their minds; the blonde on the platform opposite (in the black and white, flower patterned dress; shoes heels but with a strip up the front, slightly gladiatorial) stands with her legs crossed in front, a face looking fixed with concentration, or maybe annoyance. I wonder if she saw me on my train, sitting, looking out the window at her. My face, I think, slightly more focused but generally happy – in spite of the stinking cold I’m carrying around with me right now.
Some of the faces you see show the same emotions. Maybe it’s something about rail travel, and the perpetual waiting for trains that have a tendency to turn up whenever they feel like it, rather than whenever it is they’re timetabled (of course, I don’t want to curse fate here; my trains have all been on time so far, touchwood, and all that); a curse that I’m all too familiar with. I bet that’s what it was, with this woman, that the train she was waiting for was delayed and she had far better places to be. At least when you’re on the train you’re moving towards your destination rather than counting down the hours being spent waiting for a train when you could be doing something far better instead. A curse that is only one way – the trains expect you to wait for them, but never give you an extra 30 seconds on that day when you’re running late and really need to get on board.
I find when I travel my mind wanders. Whether I’m walking, on the train, in the car, on a plane; it doesn’t matter the method of travel, but, when I’m by myself my mind will wander. If I start a journey with an empty mind, it is full by the time I reach my destination – and, fortuitously the opposite is true. When I start with a full mind, my thoughts empty and I find I’ve come to some sort of understanding about whatever it was that had been troubling me.
Sometimes I travel and I listen to music. Sometimes I play games, watch a DVD or read a book. Sometimes I stare out and let my mind wander.
I used to be one of the people on the platform, like the nameless blonde, who would be annoyed and upset at being kept waiting for a train that never seemed to arrive. Somewhere along the line though I changed; I became more at ease with the world and able to just relax and take it easy. Enjoy the waiting, or make better use of it than sitting and feeling rage building up inside of me. Rage that would have nowhere to go, and would effectively spoil my evening (I would rarely get upset at being held up going to work... well, I am only human!)
Sometimes, when waiting, I’ll sit and sketch; or I’ll do the things I’d be doing when on the train. Or I’d get take out and eat my dinner on the platform (typically splitting my take-out time between subway and McDonalds; of the two, Subway was always preferred – although I’d never venture further than the ubiquitous ‘Sub of the day’ – and always the 6” – typically overloaded with salad (I like everything, but, in particular love the black olives and jalapeños, I’m probably some sort of sub-freak-of-nature (I know I’m setting myself up there... never mind though, just one of those things. If you can’t laugh at yourself and poke fun at yourself, who can you?))
There are many things I believe in this life; one of the most important to me is that it isn’t arriving that’s the most important; it’s the journey you take to get there. (okay, sometimes the arriving is important too – but – shhh, don’t make me all time-stressed again; that ruins the whole thing!)
