4 months on the Mitchell Plateau and I feel like I have mastered the art of taking it slow. Slow morning coffees, gentle meditation and slow, leisurely breakfasts. It's a nice way to start each day. Even the workday itself is more of a marathon than a sprint. What doesn't get finished today can always be finished tomorrow. It's a luxury we don't often have in the real world and a luxury that certainly doesn't exist in the world of tour guiding. Normally there's too much to do and too little time. And even when we're not at work we stay busy staying busy - busy getting ahead or sometimes just busy staying afloat. And because we can be so time-poor it's easy to view idle time - or down time - as wasted time so we tend to fill our days with stuff. Sometimes that stuff makes us happy, sometimes it doesn't. Out here there's certainly stuff to do but there's also a certain contentment in not being overly busy, a certain contentment in taking it slow, and not always having to be somewhere and do something. When you've got 5 and a half months to fill you get really good at slowing down and being still - watching and listening and being present. It probably sounds pretty boring but in reality it's incredibly satisfying. It's nice taking the time and watching as the shadows fall through the palm trees in the afternoon. Taking the time to enjoy the cool morning air and taking the time to enjoy the last light of the day as the sun sets and the frogs start croaking. And then it’s dark. It's really dark. Except for a light in the kitchen the lodge is surrounded by blackness. Perfect blackness and a perfect night sky. This combination of slowing down, learning to be still and being present as the sun rises and the sun sets - as the season changes and the colours change - it is a Mitchell Plateau luxury I will miss.
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