NY Weekend in Pictures
It was a dreamy weekend in New York. My friend Kate was visiting from DC, and together with Jordan, we traipsed around the city, adventuring – from the Otto Dix exhibit at the Neue Galerie (haunting sketches from the trenches of WWI, and distorted portraiture evoking the excesses of the Weimar Republic); to a Sake bar the size of a studio apartment, with Sam, who knows where to get the best everything in each of the five boroughs; to aimless wandering around the Village and Soho, where we admired the quirky wares of the Pearl River Mart, bought rings made out of flowers, and found the most delicious pizza I’ve eaten in New York so far. Along the way, we saw men in bowler hats, punk rock rubber duckies, and so many cherry blossoms. Here, a snapshot in pictures:
The Mythology of Place
Since moving to New York, I’ve been struck by how much energy the people of this city invest in maintaining the image and allure of NYC. It seems like every other issue of New York magazine and Time Out New York feature the best this-or-that of NY, reasons to love NY, etc etc. In December, the city hung charming strings of lights over East Village side streets — this felt like choreography, a way of accentuating how charming NY can be in winter…a way of telling the story of the city back to itself.
He loves NY.
The old mythology of New York as a place to reinvent yourself, a place where anything is possible, is alive and well. (more…)
Elusive Inspiration
Inspiration can be so elusive. Gray skies, then the clouds clear, and light cracks across the sky, leaving a trail of soul-affirming blue in its wake. Other times, a piece of music, a glance exchanged, or just time passing – and all of a sudden, all the existential questions melt away, and I am only this moment, and I have everything I need; of course I do. Then, only then, do I feel the fullness necessary to create.
For about the past decade of my life, I’ve struggled with clinical depression and anxiety. I’m not sure where this illness enters and exits (more…)
Epiphany in the Key of C
I’m back from Costa Rica. The yoga bug has bitten – after arriving home Saturday night, I was itching to practice Sunday morning, and again today. As I waited at the bus stop on my way to OM, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” came on the Pandora station I was listening to on my Blackberry:
(Sing it with me now…)
“You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes you might find
You get what you need.”
This, I realized, is an exact summary of my yoga retreat. It wasn’t what I wanted, going in — it demanded more of me, made me work harder than I’d planned — but it was definitely what I needed.
Isn’t it fascinating, how we’re drawn to things sometimes without really knowing why, and they turn out to fill a deep inner need? As if our subconscious knows what we need before we recognize the need consciously…
I’m back. I’m stronger, surer and lighter. I wonder what the playlist will feature next…
Good Tired
Image by v1ctory 1s m1ne on Flickr
This week, I’m feeling “good tired” for the first time in ages – tired in the way a runner is tired at the end of a race, or a mountain climber when she finally reaches the peak, rather than tired the way a couch potato is perpetually tired. Exhilarated-tired, versus lethargic.
Improv has everything to do with it. When I am spending my days immersed in the ‘prov, I am blissful. My mind isn’t wandering – “what else could/should I be doing?” I am present and engaged. I am connecting. I am in a state of flow… which reminds me of this quote:
“Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.” -Heraclitus
What activity puts you in this “serious” state?
