Pausing for a New York Minute
Mark K July 29th, 2007
It was about two years ago when the Jamba Juice machine almost drove me to a breakdown in the midtown Manhattan. My family and I had stopped for lunch at a Whole Foods store on the bottom floor of a high rise complex near Central Park. I became separated from my family, had to wait in line with about 30 people to buy my food and then had to search for the family and an empty chair in an extremely crowded dining room. Finally I found the family and a place to sit, but soon realized that I was mere feet away from an the incredible whirl and roar of several blenders at a Jamba Juice stand smack in the middle of the dining room. I wanted to scream and knock over a few fellow diners on my way to silencing the offending juicers.
It was not long after this that I discovered a book called 50 Places to Find Peace and Quiet in New York. I had always told myself that I would like to live in New York for a year, but after the “Jamba Juice incident” I decided that the only way I could manage would be if I knew some places where I could find sanctuary when things got too intense. In fact, that’s part of the appeal of the city - the frenzied pace and din that fascinates me, but only if I know when I can back off.
This summer Heidi and I visited New York for our 25th anniversary. One day we each went our own way and I took my 50 Peaceful Places book with me. The irony is that I was rushing down the street with the rest of the New Yorkers, making a brief stop at each sanctuary, clicking off a few pictures and then continuing on down the sidewalk.
A couple of days later Heidi and I were riding in a cab, stuck in traffic when I spotted a New Yorker who seemed like he had figured out a way to manage the city. He was traveling on roller blades and jaywalking, threading his way through a row of cars waiting at a red light. He was calmly chatting on his cell phone as he made his way to the sidewalk, passing our cab. He disappeared briefly into a crowd on the sidewalk and reappeared in a moment - he had put his phone away but was now eating some food he had purchased at a sidewalk stand, a Styrofoam container in one hand and a fork in the other. He peacefully continued munching and skating as he traveled down the sidewalk, ran a red light in front of our cab and disappeared up Madison Avenue.
Somehow, he had managed to immerse himself in the craziness while skating with the calm of a Buddhist monk - beautifully multi-tasking at the same time.
This summer I’ve been so busy running around that I haven’t taken time to write or to add to this blog. Somehow it doesn’t feel right to write about pausing and slowing down when you’re running around like a madman.
Maybe I can take a clue from the New York rollerblader and pause while I’m still in motion.
