Go Out & Find It
I went for a run/walk in Central Park yesterday morning. It was cold and I didn't really have the time to do it, but out I went. I listened to Vance Joy and I breathed deeply and the fresh air was nothing but a balm. The world, though grayish, was in technicolor for me, alive. I felt it all - the wind on my cheeks, the thump of my sneakers on the pavement, the beat of the music. The park was just beginning to fill with people and dogs and all of them became characters to me. I imagined stories. I stopped here and there and took pictures. I couldn't stop actually. It was all breathtaking somehow. I saw an old woman jogging in a putty-colored jumpsuit. I saw another old woman being lifted into an ambulance. I saw tourists swarming, pointing, consulting guidebooks. I paused and watched ducks swimming in the water. I watched bikers zip by, canary yellow cabs carry good strangers from here to there.
In the end, my fingers were almost numb, but my mind and body were alert and awake to the world. It was just another morning, but it also wasn't. It was a time of hard-earned presence, of centering peace, of wild gratitude to be here.
Speaking of here, ourHERE Year has come to an end. I am happy and sad, amazed and already nostalgic. I will write about what I have learned, and what I have left to learn, about presence, but I need a little more time to process it all. For now, I will keep walking and running and writing through this good life.
Before I go, some advice for you (and me): There is so much beauty in this world. Go out and find it.
