The last thing I do before I travel is pack my bags. I mean that's the
very last thing I do - maybe less than an hour before I
walk out the door.
Traveling comes easily to
me.
Packing for a journey is like a second nature. When it's time to pack I
lay open my rollaboard on my bed. Then I take out a
carefully compiled printed travel items checklist which I place on or
near the rollaboard. This way it doesn't take much to gather, fold, and
pack everything I need.
I fold shirts and slacks in a way which presses them en route (I have
less ironing to do after I arrive than if I were to wear the same
clothes before I leave). Anything security personnel may inspect I pack
near the top of the rollaboard. Then I secure the rollaboard zip with a
plastic twist-tie in case it's searched.
OK, packing is the last thing. And the first? The first thing I do
before I travel is get the space (the physical space)
immaculate, impeccable. Every journey I embark on is a calling to
spring clean - that, and to clear my to do
list of items which will come due while I'm away. I'll start these
processes at least three days before it's time to go.
Why
bother? Here's
why
I do: in my reckoning, travel just
works
best coming from and therefore taking place
in a clear space.
I don't know
why
this is. It's just
works
best this way. If there's one thing I can do to assure a
successful journey, it's actually got less to do with planning the
itinerary or making the reservations or packing the right clothes or
ensuring I have an aisle seat than it would at first seem. No, the most
effective thing I can do to assure a successful journey is to depart
from an immaculate space - which also, by the way, assures
I'll be returning to an immaculate space.
In many ways this process is mysterious. I can reason through
why
it might
work.
I can try to
explainwhy
it
works
- which is to say I can take a shot at explaining
why
it
works.
Just notice it's a shot which is
good enough for
jazz
but is by no means "the truth" about
why
it
works.
I can give my bountiful opinion about
why
it
works,
about
why
it's effective. Yet in the end if I'm honest, I have no idea at
allwhy
it
works.
Anything I say about it is simply my own
interpretation
of a fundamental process in Life which really doesn't
require my understanding, explanation, opinion, or
interpretation
to
work
anyway.
However, being pragmatic I'll bet good
money
on this quintessential insight from
Zen:
it simply
works
best this way because it
works
best this way. The entire journey goes better when I depart from an
immaculate space. There are less glitches and hitches, fewer unexpected
hassles, minimal inconveniences.
It's as if once I've fine tuned ie once I've set the physical space
clear, then
workability's
got somewhere to
show upuninhibited to do what it does best.
See, I'm more than happy (I'm ecstatic) to let
workabilityshow up
and do what it does best for all it's worth. And I don't need to know
(and I don't need to ask)
why
it
works
best this way. It just does.
Workability
is like the floor. I don't have a problem with the floor being down
there: that's the floor, that's it (as
Werner Erhard
may have said). And even if you claim you do understand
why
it
works
best this way, your
understanding of
why is the booby prize.
Yes, it's OK to understand it (I suppose it is) - if you insist ie if
you must. Just notice understanding it isn't a prerequisite in
order to have
workabilitywork.