41 — Go where you are not

A few years ago I was introduced to transcendental meditation (TM), first to the concept, then to the learning procedure, and finally to the practice which I religiously kept for three years until I inadvertently skipped one (and many more after that one) because I met a guy. 

At first, I was skeptical because my working schedule was the epitome of erratic. I was still heading the communications agency I co-founded and each day looked busier than the previous one where travel was at the forefront of each project. Working on international productions had its perks, travel being one, and I was packing and unpacking suitcases like an experienced surgeon, with a sharp focus and a steady hand. I got to live a lot of experiences during those years and along the way, I became dependent on my work. 

I had very little time off that wasn’t occupied by running the agency, so the concept of meditation wasn’t something I naturally gravitated toward. “How could I ‘afford’ to take 40” off from the busy schedules I had and dedicate them to meditation?!” The concept seemed ridiculous. I associated that freedom of time with the lives of established directors (hello, David Lynch) and artists in general but not with me, a simple yet dedicated founder although the subject of meditation kept coming up for years, whether in conversation with the people I met along the way, in the books I read and podcasts I listened to before I paid attention.