I seem to be spending all my time apologizing at the moment. I didn't write a post yesterday and I had said that I would endeavour to write every day. In my defence I did write two on Wednesday, but I really did mean to write about what I got up to yesterday; however, I was so tired I just couldn't summon up the energy to write about it. And I was having a little bit of trouble with my Internet connection, but that is now sorted and here I am.
I travelled north London yesterday morning to listen to a lecture being given by 'S'. When I gave my lecture a few weeks back he said that if there were any that I particularly felt like attending then I should feel free to come along. So I did. I found it very interesting and gave me a perspective on various different psychodynamic theories; ones that I had not really looked into before. It has interested me enough to look at the work of Klein and Winnicott in more detail so that I can see where they were coming from.
My journey to the university was horrendous and at one stage the bus that I was travelling on took more than half an hour to travel a distance of about a mile. I sent 'S' a text message saying that I was still south of the river and that I hoped that I would arrive in time; he sent a reply indicating that I should not worry if I was a little late. As luck would have it when I eventually arrived at Victoria and made a dash for the Underground I did not have too much of a problem getting through the ticket barrier and down to the platform and a train arrived almost immediately. On arrival at my destination station I set off for the university building as fast as my legs would carry me. I do walk a fair bit, but while I generally use an average walking pace, yesterday I needed to get my legs working rather hard to get to the building in time for the 10am start. After booking in at the reception desk, I made my way upstairs and found the lecture room without too much difficulty and walked in just as 'S' was finishing his brief introduction on the subject of the lecture.
After the lecture 'S' and I had a discussion about how well my lecture had been received and that the students had talked about it for a few weeks afterwards. We also discussed the short course that it is hoped that the university will be running in the summer and what the dates for that would be. I have been asked to lecture again, so I will need to think about updating my lecture a little in readiness for this.
I had decided that I would do a bit of wandering round Oxford Street after the lecture, so I headed for the Underground to make my way to Oxford Circus. Just as I came out of the station the police were closing off a large section of Oxford Street, in the direction that I wanted to go, because of a major gas leak. I could not believe that this had happened to me on top of the problems that I had already suffered on my earlier journey. So I had to turn round and walk in the opposite direction to that which I wanted to go in order to get on the Underground again. I walked to Bond Street station and got on a train to Tottenham Court Road and then turned into Charing Cross Road and started walking down towards Trafalgar Square. I love looking in bookshops and Charing Cross Road is just the place to do this, but it is nowhere near as much fun as it used to be. So many of the specialist bookshops have now gone although Foyles is still there and I had a most enjoyable hour wandering round Blackwells.
By the time that I got home my legs and feet were aching and I needed to sit down and put my feet up for a while. So that is my excuse for not writing a post yesterday, and I am sticking to it.
Showing posts with label travelling in London. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travelling in London. Show all posts
Friday, 24 April 2009
Thursday, 26 February 2009
The Big Day
I'm sitting in my dressing gown waiting for my hair to dry (it should only take a few more minutes because it is short) before getting myself dressed ready to travel across London to face the ordeal. Actually, that's not fair because I do not really see today as being an ordeal.
I have written what I hope is an informative lecture on what it is like to go through therapy. Some of it has been written at a cost of some pain. Thinking about my first encounter with therapy, and the feelings that it caused me to have, meant that I had to leave the writing for a few days to forget about how horrible that experience had been. Reading it through later, and talking about it with Mr Smiley when we met for lunch last week, showed me that this part of the lecture was likely to cause me to become a little emotional and that the possibility of this happening meant that I would have to change the introduction so that the students would understand why I might suddenly get a lump in my throat or need to grab for a tissue or two.
For the experience of the therapy that I am going through now, I have not had to think about what it has been like and write about it because I have already done that. The second part of the lecture is based on emails that I have written to Mr Smiley and posts from this blog. As a result, what I say in this part of the lecture is much more 'of the moment' because the material was written within hours of the session that it refers to. By using this approach, the lecture is probably a truer reflection of what it is like to experience therapy than would have been possible if I had sat down and written about months after the event. At least, I hope that is how it comes across.
I didn't manage much sleep last night, so there's no surprise there, however, I am not feeling anywhere near as anxious as I thought I would be. Actually, I'm feeling rather calm, which worries me a little. But I will set out in a little while, armed with my folder containing the lecture, plus a memory stick with it in digital form in my handbag (definitely a belt and braces approach for me today), and walk to the bus stop to start my journey across London in the rush hour. I'll let you know how things went later.
Now, remind me again, why did I say that I would never come back to live in London?
I have written what I hope is an informative lecture on what it is like to go through therapy. Some of it has been written at a cost of some pain. Thinking about my first encounter with therapy, and the feelings that it caused me to have, meant that I had to leave the writing for a few days to forget about how horrible that experience had been. Reading it through later, and talking about it with Mr Smiley when we met for lunch last week, showed me that this part of the lecture was likely to cause me to become a little emotional and that the possibility of this happening meant that I would have to change the introduction so that the students would understand why I might suddenly get a lump in my throat or need to grab for a tissue or two.
For the experience of the therapy that I am going through now, I have not had to think about what it has been like and write about it because I have already done that. The second part of the lecture is based on emails that I have written to Mr Smiley and posts from this blog. As a result, what I say in this part of the lecture is much more 'of the moment' because the material was written within hours of the session that it refers to. By using this approach, the lecture is probably a truer reflection of what it is like to experience therapy than would have been possible if I had sat down and written about months after the event. At least, I hope that is how it comes across.
I didn't manage much sleep last night, so there's no surprise there, however, I am not feeling anywhere near as anxious as I thought I would be. Actually, I'm feeling rather calm, which worries me a little. But I will set out in a little while, armed with my folder containing the lecture, plus a memory stick with it in digital form in my handbag (definitely a belt and braces approach for me today), and walk to the bus stop to start my journey across London in the rush hour. I'll let you know how things went later.
Now, remind me again, why did I say that I would never come back to live in London?
Monday, 9 February 2009
Trying Again!
With a bit of luck I should be meeting 'S' today. After the slight disaster last week when he forgot to phone me to tell me that he was stuck at home because of snow so wouldn't be able to meet me, hopefully today will be a little more successful.
I'm feeling a little anxious again today, but nothing like last week. I suppose that part of the reason that I am not so bad is because I know how to get to my destination this time, having carried out what turned out to be a dummy run last Thursday.
Considering that I am a London girl born and bred, I do find travelling about a very anxious experience. I suppose it is having spent more than 30 years away from London that makes me this way; at a time when I should have been visiting the hot spots and the super shopping areas that London has, I was living in the country, much of it in a small village. It's not just travelling in London that I find induces anxiety. I'm like it wherever I travel to, and at airports I am an absolute nightmare, not being able to stop looking at my watch or stay in a seat for more than five minutes at a time. This is all made worse by the fact that I have a thing about making sure that I am never late, so I always arrive anywhere much earlier than I need to so add to the problems of waiting at airports. I've travelled the world, very often on my own, and yet I still cannot stop being like this.
However, this morning I shall leave the house a little later than I did on Thursday and hopefully I won't have too long to wait for 'S' when I arrive in reception. I can almost hear his apologies for Thursday as I sit here typing this. One nice thing about today is that 'S' is taking me out to lunch to make up for Thursday, and I do think that this might make the meeting a slightly less anxiety-inducing occurrence. It's so much easier to chat over food.
I'm feeling a little anxious again today, but nothing like last week. I suppose that part of the reason that I am not so bad is because I know how to get to my destination this time, having carried out what turned out to be a dummy run last Thursday.
Considering that I am a London girl born and bred, I do find travelling about a very anxious experience. I suppose it is having spent more than 30 years away from London that makes me this way; at a time when I should have been visiting the hot spots and the super shopping areas that London has, I was living in the country, much of it in a small village. It's not just travelling in London that I find induces anxiety. I'm like it wherever I travel to, and at airports I am an absolute nightmare, not being able to stop looking at my watch or stay in a seat for more than five minutes at a time. This is all made worse by the fact that I have a thing about making sure that I am never late, so I always arrive anywhere much earlier than I need to so add to the problems of waiting at airports. I've travelled the world, very often on my own, and yet I still cannot stop being like this.
However, this morning I shall leave the house a little later than I did on Thursday and hopefully I won't have too long to wait for 'S' when I arrive in reception. I can almost hear his apologies for Thursday as I sit here typing this. One nice thing about today is that 'S' is taking me out to lunch to make up for Thursday, and I do think that this might make the meeting a slightly less anxiety-inducing occurrence. It's so much easier to chat over food.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Travel In London - Not As Easy As You Might Think
I'm sitting here nervously waiting for it to be time to leave to travel to the other side of London for my meeting with 'S' about my lecture and the seminar to follow it.
Everyone always assumes that getting about London is easy, and quick, but I can assure that is not always the case. Much will depend where you are travelling from and to, and my journey today is a good example of this. I live in a part of London that is not served by the Underground. Apparently it will be here in a couple of years, but we don't have a connection at the moment. This means that the cheapest way for me to get across London is to use a combination of bus and tube; both of which enable me to use my Oyster card which means that I pay less than the standard single fare if paying by cash. I can't use my Oyster card on the rail network, and the cost of travelling into the centre of London on a train can be ridiculous.
I decided to check the Transport for London website for the best way to get to my destination. It suggested a method whereby I had a 10 minute walk to a bus stop, caught a bus, changed buses (probably with a wait in the cold), then got off at a particular tube station and completed my journey by tube. That would be one tube fare and two bus fares that I would be charged for each way. I have found a different route (by using my rudimentary knowledge of London (I was away for more than 30 years and things have changed a bit in that time)) and by using my way I still have a 10 minute walk to the bus stop, but in a different direction, and I need only wait for one bus, which will take me to a major transport terminus in the centre of London, and then a shorter journey on the tube. This means that I am saving at least £2 on my travel costs, and I will have less waiting in the cold for buses.
All that is left for me to do before I set out is get myself into some really warm clothing so that I don't freeze to death waiting for a bus, and then set out on my adventure.
Everyone always assumes that getting about London is easy, and quick, but I can assure that is not always the case. Much will depend where you are travelling from and to, and my journey today is a good example of this. I live in a part of London that is not served by the Underground. Apparently it will be here in a couple of years, but we don't have a connection at the moment. This means that the cheapest way for me to get across London is to use a combination of bus and tube; both of which enable me to use my Oyster card which means that I pay less than the standard single fare if paying by cash. I can't use my Oyster card on the rail network, and the cost of travelling into the centre of London on a train can be ridiculous.
I decided to check the Transport for London website for the best way to get to my destination. It suggested a method whereby I had a 10 minute walk to a bus stop, caught a bus, changed buses (probably with a wait in the cold), then got off at a particular tube station and completed my journey by tube. That would be one tube fare and two bus fares that I would be charged for each way. I have found a different route (by using my rudimentary knowledge of London (I was away for more than 30 years and things have changed a bit in that time)) and by using my way I still have a 10 minute walk to the bus stop, but in a different direction, and I need only wait for one bus, which will take me to a major transport terminus in the centre of London, and then a shorter journey on the tube. This means that I am saving at least £2 on my travel costs, and I will have less waiting in the cold for buses.
All that is left for me to do before I set out is get myself into some really warm clothing so that I don't freeze to death waiting for a bus, and then set out on my adventure.
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