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I've returned from my summer in rural France. The contrast with my city existence is vivid. There, the pace of life is slow. My basic needs are provided for, so I don't have to spend lots of time thinking about and making my meals, I just show up. Work is generally simple: mowing, weeding, pruning and fixing tools. I don't read a lot; my entertainment is provided by my interactions with other people and nature. I have time set aside to practice meditation.

Here, things are much faster, especially when University starts (6 days to go). I have to travel on the underground, which in itself is a high pressure environment at rush hour. I dash from one lecture to another, to work, to meetings. My brain speeds up. I cram text books on the tube. To balance my schoolwork, I read textbooks from other subject areas: linguistics, psychology, cognitive science, biology, philosophy. Does that balance? Perhaps not. I try to keep up with friends' blogs and facebook activities. I try to keep on top of the latest technological and scientific advances.

And so on. It's busy, and the point I'm making is that the busier I get, the more I feel the need to fill the little gaps with more business. Sometimes I feel my head will explode. I will try to keep a lid on this tendency, a bit. Try to notice the world going by sometimes. Cook myself a slow meal from time to time. Take the time to really, properly communicate with someone. Just thinking about it slows me down a bit. I realise that that space, that peace, is important to me.