I am thirty minutes into a 4-hour layover in the Vancouver airport before flying out to Toronto. Long story short, when I checked in this morning, my original flight plan was all screwed up due to a delayed flight – but I was attended to by an Air Canada employee who was really great, and patient with me and booked me on an even better flight than I originally had.
Some things came into focus as a result of that moment – you know how they sometimes do… and since I haven’t sat meditation for the last two days – my airport practice for the next 3 and a half hours is focused on generosity, and I’m using the sound of the occasional cart-bell as a reminder (each time I hear the ding of the airport cart, I stop and take a breath and refocus my intention).
Thus far I’ve had some really nice interactions as a result.
We seem to love to complain about airports but really, for huge hyper-secure sterile institutions, they can be remarkably pleasant. Tons of cool art and comfy little corners, good lighting… and the staff are mostly really good and god knows they are patient. SFO has a yoga room and a device-free ‘silent reflection room’. I like airports. Enjoy your gift of time out of time.