Friday, July 15, 2005
Little Gifts in Riverside Park
The universe gives me little presents. All I have to do is reach out and grab them. Or open my eyes wide enough to see them. They are so frequent. Sometimes a hand-full a day, sometimes only one; sometimes a great big one! That is why all days have something special to them. Each day is so unique.
Last Sunday I was walking in Riverside Park, my favorite New York City meditation spot. I sat down on a hill to have a Hudson River view. It was perfect. An hour of uninterrupted writing looking at the water (third present of the day).
What were the first and second presents?
- Waking up at noon on a Sunday after a night out in NYC with new friends from the other side of the world. Having the company of Sober in the City while having a lazy breakfast.
- Getting to my uptown apartment and getting my Sunday call from Mr. Preferred man or Mr. N as I have also called him. “Hey what are you up to?” says Preferred man. “Well I’m a bit hung over from going out dancing last night but doing well,” I respond. “Did you show off your dance moves to all the guys there?” he asks. “A bit I guess,” I laughed. “I wish I could have been there to see you…” says he. “What are you up to N?”. “Oh I’m walking beside the lake in Chicago.” The day is sunny, people everywhere.” Sounded good to me (present number one or two in his day I think) I ended up sending pictures of my night out to Preferred Man N. He couldn’t wait to get them.
Sometimes I wonder if all N appreciates in me is the physical, but being insistent for a year and talking for hours has to amount to something more. So what if he appreciates my exterior? Good to have an appreciative man! Us girls love it when guys make us feel beautiful. This is what N does for me. We ended up laughing at some joke, him begging me to send him pictures of me, me promising to be nice enough to send them. I sent him pictures with my new Australian friends (thanks to Sober in the City). This is new to me. To be able to send a man pictures of myself with other men, without him getting jealous! The feedback from him? “Great! I loved your pictures!” Now this is my kind of man! I’d sent one of Sober in the City since I have been talking about her enough to him too.
But back to the day at Riverside Park. And to gift number 4:
Writing in my journal, laying on the grass and being still a moment to listen to the amazingly mellow Latin music being strummed by two guys sitting a couple of yards away from me. It was exactly the type of music I love! They must be Latin, I thought. Who else carries maracas and plays bossa-nova in the middle of the day?
Which took me to challenge number 1 of the day: recognizing the gift being flaunted in front of my face and grabbing it before it was too late.
Challenge number 1) Breathe deeply, get over your shyness for ONCE, and walk over there and introduce yourself to these musicians! You want to make new musician friends don’t you? You were dying to live in New York City weren’t you? You want to be a singer here right?
After about 10 nervous minutes I walked over and introduced myself. Turns out one guitar player had been to my home town and was about to embark on a 6-month trip to Mexico, reporting on the Mexican elections down there. His cool girlfriend did an exchange program at my home university and was very interested in learning more about my work. They were not Latin, they just love the music. The other guy had an amazing voice and I will soon go see them play since they have a band and do gigs now and then. They also live 2 blocks away from my apartment and were very interested in hanging out with me. I gave them my e-mail and number and walked away full of music, happiness and peace. All goes to show: here is your NYC gift, now grab it!
Labels: Mex
