Movement

Soho 06/04/09

If you've ever lived in or visited New York you've probably noticed how the pace is super quick. The city seems to be stuck in fast-forward. At first this really bothered me. I felt I couldn't rest - couldn't just stop for a minute to remember what I was moving for in the first place. As time goes by I take comfort in the non-stop motion. It helps me to remember that life continues as long as I am alive. I must keep moving forward or risk getting stuck where I am.

As I was riding my bike home from work today - I was flying down the 59th Street bridge into Queens and for a minute I thought I must be going faster than New York. Yet instead of the sensation of speed and movement it seemed as if I was stuck in a gelatinous wholeness: like I was going exactly the same speed as the city itself, therefore making it appear to be perfectly still.

The experience was really pretty beautiful however it was also rather stifling. If New York was perfectly still I would feel like a chunk of canned fruit in that Jello Salad they have at Luby's. What I mean to say is that if it didn't move away from or towards me, it would weigh down on me constantly. Instead, in the breezing by of taxis and commuters there is a wind that makes it possible to breathe, to move, to continue.

Soho 06/04/09