Trading In The Commute For The Calm

Find Your Zen.

Ever since I was a Sophomore in College, I commuted into the city for work. My first job in college at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Times Square made for an exciting trip in and out of the city and my first year of commuting was an adventure. Since then, the last 18 years of my life (up until March 11th, 2020) were spent commuting daily on trains. That all quickly changed as soon as we were quarantined and it wasn’t until then that I had an epiphany. I soon realized that rather than spending hours a day on a train, I could be more productive on the piano. But let’s rewind first.

New York City wasn’t far from where I lived and what technically was a 30 minute commute in/out of the city became tedious hours of wasted time spent contending with very tempermental trains, constant delays, cancellations and breakdowns. The facade had been cracked and the glamorous lifestyle of the hustle and bustle became less than pleasurable.

As a young adult (pre-pandemic and pre-pianist), working in New York City was a rite of passage and a badge of honor. It seemed to glisten with amazement of going from suburbia lifestyle to the metropolitan concrete jungle within mere minutes. The world vastly opened up as the trees, properties and open space transitioned into bright lights, skyscrapers, condensed space and questionable pavement.

When I first started in Advertising, the excitement of starting my very first job and riding the train with all the other commuters who’ve been doing this for years, was an adventure. I was in my own world as I bopped to the music on my first generation iPod and waited for the train to pull into the station. I was ready to dive into my professional career and as fancy as working in the city sounded, I soon realized all that glitters isn’t gold.

As I stood on the platform early in the morning happily excited to start my day and get into the office, I gazed across the platform and noticed that many of the other commuters faces were lethargic, unhappy, heads deep into their Blackberries and other devices with all the joy sucked out of them. I couldn’t understand why the majority of them looked so unhappy. I was a vibrant fresh face 20 year old who was brand new to the commute game and ten doing this far longer than I had. I promised myself that I wouldn’t become one of those people.

You don’t realize how much energy you spend on your daily commute until you don’t anymore. The constant grind and sleep, eat, repat days became tedious and less and less enjoyable.

I felt my light diminish as I knew my true purpose in life wasn’t spending it on the train. Once I was in the city, I became the cosmopolitan girl whose light brightened with every step hitting the pavement on the concrete jungle. However, retreating back home on the train became a strenuous task that  my light and sucked the joy out of working in the city.

When quarantine began, I still stuck to my schedule of waking up at the same time I normally would to go into the city. This allowed me to not get into a rut and continue being productive. I’d workout, clean the house, paint, renovate, do whatever to stay busy and keep my mind off of the insanity. As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, I decided that I’d teach myself how to play piano. Knowing nothing other than scales and notes/octaves, that little nudge in my head allowed me to push past my fears and create from a place in the unknown.  I kept a regimented schedule waking up every day at 7am and dedicating at least an hour before work to practice.  It was healing energy and sound therapy which provided the best sense of calm under all of the pressure.

With the piano, I found solace. I found peace and I found my zen. Each hour that I dedicated to my practice allowed me to exercise muscles in my brain I never knew existed and grow stronger with each note I placed. Trading in the commute for calm was an absolute blessing and the best thing to have happened.