Walking & Chewing Gum

Setting changes everything for me,

the way twelve hours in an office

is unique from commuting or teleworking

or a work trip

or a day off

or a day caregiving.

Setting is the distance

between serenity and panic.

Setting is the container,

and there are distinctions.

When containers attract me unexpectedly

I wonder about my motivation.

Introspectively I look inward,

and if preservation isn’t signaled

I uncoil,

seeing if I feel relaxed.

Flurries of thunder sound periodically

and raindrops seem to flick the glass.

Our positive characteristics of work

carry a theme:

momentum

sustained

productive

full.

Workers are eager,

inspired,

hungry,

walking on the balls of their feet

at a speed that has to be fast.

I can do all of those things,

but how would I describe myself?

Deliberate.

Sincere.

Analytical.

In a healthy container, creative.

In an unhealthy container, manic.

In any container, the stability.

In this container,

intrigued by how we describe places.

In this container, conscious of how I use quiet.

I listen to the brewing storm near in time.

Nearer in distance too.

My thought continues like no interruption happened…

how we suggest that work is more about people than places and how they’re set up.

How we problemetize people

before we reconstruct atmospheres.

When we remove outcomes

instead of inputs.

Who speaks

and why.

Fizzling out of my habits

is filtering,

while my face becomes

more difficult to read.

Alas,

it comes down to interpretation.

Driven by unobserved settings

that we devote too little attention to,

and somehow our complete immersion.