I hate to leave The Big Apple this time of year--all dressed up in its holiday best. The city's Christmas spirit is apparent on the faces of its newest tourists sauntering past me in the terminal--trailing suitcases like leashed Terriers. No one carries their luggage these days.
Anxiously awaiting my RDU-bound airplane, I'm sipping a WorldBean coffee from Durham, NC. My destination's java precedes me. My mood is chill. I'm very excited to be bound for the Old North State, but it's a somber feeling to think about not seeing my City Year teammates for over two weeks. I'm so glad (and thankful and blessed) to be on a team, where halfway through the year, I'm actually going to miss the people that I spend so much time with in a given week.
I regret not doing more Christmasy things here like window shopping on 5th Avenue. I missed the Macy's parade and I won't get to see the ball drop at New Years either. I hate to miss these festivities, but there's no place like home for the holidays and I wouldn't want to be anywhere but NC this time of year. If I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free!
So I realize I haven't been the most diligent blogger since starting this account over two years ago. Because I often seek the profound in life, I usually hesitate to publish anything that isn't. But profound thoughts can easily come across pretension and I wouldn't want that, so I'm going to try to start thinking less and writing more.
Since moving to New York in August, I've been journaling as often as possible. This post is from an entry I wrote several Sundays ago...
12-4-11: Day 122 in NYC
I love Sunday mornings in NY. Actually I love Sunday mornings anywhere, but especially in NY. Monday through Friday are just too busy to really be enjoyed and when it comes to weekends, I think Sunday is superior because Saturday is often filled with rushing people fulfilling duties neglected during the previous workweek. Plus, Saturdays, for me, usually come with the temptation to sleep until noon, lounge in my pajamas with Cap'n Crunch in hand, and otherwise waste an entire day.
Santa flannel with roomies Esteban, Kunal, and Jake.
This Sunday morning I find myself in my usual spot: Starbucks at 78th and Lexington. The spirit of Christmas is in the air. I'm sipping on a Christmas Blend drip coffee and wearing a red flannel shirt that looks like something Santa Claus might sleep in. I can see him as he lazily rolls out of bed, late in the afternoon of the 25th, to the smell of gingerbread and sausage that Mrs. Claus is merrily preparing in the kitchen. His body aches from a night of work like no one else could know, but he loves his job.
There's a Christmas tree stand by my apartment that opens my nostrils and makes me smile each time I pass. On the way to the train this morning I stopped by and shot the breeze with Alex--one of the guys that runs the stand. He's a young bearded fellow that looks like he works on a Christmas tree farm. He encouraged me to try organic farming after my time in NY is done. Maybe I will.
Rockacenter with Jessica, Denise, Esteban, Dixie, and Tania
The Christmas tree stand is right next to this little taqueria with two-dollar tacos. That block is an olfactory paradise. The taco stand's exotic smells perforate the brisk air with scents of cayenne pepper and cilantro while freshly-made corn tortillas sizzle on a propane-powered skillet. I always make it a point to walk up 3rd Avenue on that side of the street.
So now Sunday morning has faded into Sunday afternoon and I'm reminded of all the things I need to do before another long week. This was a nice respite, though. Hopefully I can be productive today and find some time to enjoy it. I guess that's what I strive for everyday, really--to do something meaningful, but never at the expense of enjoying life.
I could tell you it’s to pass the time or to record the memories of my trip, but honestly it’s because I like to look scholarly and sophisticated. An airplane is a good place to look scholarly and sophisticated.
Sometimes on airplanes I read big books of poetry and ask the flight attendant for a glass of tomAHto juice with a fake British accent (not really, but you get the picture).
Anyway, this isn’t a blog about sophistication or any pretense of it; this is a blog about time.
Time’s a funny thing and I often find myself thinking about it on airplanes (when I’m not reading Byron). Probably because airplanes are about the closest things we have to time machines. You encapsulate yourself in a flying tube, zoom through the stratosphere, and wind up in a completely different environment and time zone.
This morning from my bedroom window, I watched as the sun crept up NC’s eastern horizon. This evening I saw the Pacific extinguish that same ball of fire over Oahu’s western shore. Before watches and cell phones, the sun was the only way to tell the time. I think I’d like it that way; then I could use phrases like “high noon.”
I learned in college about how different cultures perceive the concept of time. Some cultures, like many of those in North America and Europe, view time rather strictly; it’s what keeps everything flowing orderly and efficiently. Other cultures place much less importance on chronology and tend to live more in the moment.
Hawaii is one of the few places in the US where you find that second mentality; where people slow down and enjoy the sunset; where nothing is too pressing or important to keep you from saying hi to your neighbor.
It’s all about priorities, really. I think when we stop worrying so much about time we’re actually able to do more with it. In the end, that’s really all we can do with our time: use it. We cannot kill time and we cannot save time. All we can do is use our time, or, of course, waste it.
We can’t create a better world until we start living better lives and we can’t do that until we learn to appreciate the time we've been given.
The real question is what will you do with your time? Things that matter? Things that impact people’s lives? Things that create positive change? Or things that don’t? Whatever you decide to do with your time, take a second to slow down and enjoy it.
Anxiously awaiting my RDU-bound airplane, I'm sipping a WorldBean coffee from Durham, NC. My destination's java precedes me. My mood is chill. I'm very excited to be bound for the Old North State, but it's a somber feeling to think about not seeing my City Year teammates for over two weeks. I'm so glad (and thankful and blessed) to be on a team, where halfway through the year, I'm actually going to miss the people that I spend so much time with in a given week.
