In the midst of the moving and box checking frenzy, I had no time for bench work. There were boxes to be packed, plasmids to be cataloged, good-byes to be said. I am now all out of excuses. I have to start doing lab work again.

Having stepped away from it for a few weeks, I have found it a little difficult to jump back in. I have had to physically force myself to sit down at a tissue culture hood. Once I did, however, I remembered how soothing lab work can be.

So many things we do in a lab are rote repetition, performed more by muscle memory than by conscious direction. They may be boring, tiresome, dry, but they are at the same time hypnotic and relaxing. Filling a 96-well plate for RT-PCR well by well sounds like Chinese water torture, but demands complete concentration. Your thoughts cannot stray from the task at hand, or you will mess up spectacularly. Forgetting which well you are on out of 96? Ouch.

This concentration, this forcing of thought into one narrow lane in preference of the buzzing and whirling that goes on in one’s head on a normal basis has a meditative effect. It displaces the noise, clears the mind, allows it to rest before the next set of cacophonous thought.

Today I have a PCR plate to set up, cells to split, a gel to run. None of this requires thought, but it does require focus. I am not particularly excited about performing these tasks, but I am looking forward to the peace and quiet in my own head.