In the complex civilization that we all live in, most people budget very little time to set their mind free. In fact, a random look across any room full of people will demonstrate that almost everyone is completely mentally occupied at all times. People are hustling around trying to make it to the next appointment, talking on their cellular telephones, reading stock quotes, et cetera.
People may occasionally day-dream about a serene tropical island where they are all alone to allow their mind to relax and unload their thinking machinery. The problem with this thought is that these beaches of our dreams are several-hour plane rides away and when we do go to these places the stress from the travel can make relaxing a difficult thing to do.
So what if I told you that you could reach the level of serenity that one achieves by laying on a beach in Bora Bora every day on your way to work?
I think that many people would call me crazy, but the truth is that every day on my bicycle ride to and from work my mind is totally set free. My thoughts transform me into a constant state of serenity. I ponder endless questions related to all aspects of my current life. I think about interesting research project related to work; I think about random social interactions that happened over the day; I think about how to improve my work performance; I think of potential inventions or business opportunities; I even think wonderful random thoughts like “Is it not ironic that rice is likely the most difficult food to eat with chop sticks…”
The genesis of this blog literally was weeks of bicycle commuting-related planning. I derived the name of the blog, dozens and dozens of topics that I will discuss with you in detail over the coming months and years, ideas for an associated non-profit organization, ideas for revenue, tax structure, etc. I wish that there were some way to record all of the thoughts that I have had. If that were the case I would be pushing out 3-4 posts per week!
Bicycle riding is uninterrupted, mental free time. There is no cell phone, no radio, no bustling freeway traffic. You are out in the beautiful outdoors with nothing but the bright blue sky and all of the thoughts you can handle.
How many people can say that they have any allotted time out of their day just to allow their mind to wander? One of the problems with modern culture is that we are constantly bombarded with stuff to think about but we have little time or incentive to process this glut of information. Our thoughts that may have led to genuine epiphanies are, unfortunately, forced out the other ear by some random other person’s Twitter announcement!
One might ask, “If you are thinking about all of this stuff while you are biking, how don’t you get run over by cars…”
This is true: daydreaming and bicycle commuting do not mix well*! However, when I am thinking about these random things, my mind is concurrently fixated on all the important aspects of safety: Is there any chance a car is going to appear out of nowhere? Is there any ice? Are my brakes functioning properly? To add to this built-in safety mindset, I also use very low traffic streets and set-apart bicycle trails as I have written a little about previously.
If one makes the transition from a life-stifling car commute to a fantastic Business Casual Biking commute, setting your mind free is just another wonderful bonus.
In the future, I will detail some of the inventions/business opportunities that I have had over the years. That info will be posted here, but is still a work in progress… My life is so consumed with great stuff at the moment that it is unlikely that I will be able to see these ideas through to completion. I hope that by sharing some of these ideas I will be able to see some of these really cool things I have thought about come to fruition. Stay tuned as I work on these pages.
*When one is new to Business Casual Biking, it is much more important to learn to be safe first before setting your mind free in the way that I currently do!
