Pen and Flow

I was doing laundry today after a long holiday break, and being in NYC, I take my clothes to a neighborhood laundromat down the block. It’s not the most pleasant of tasks, but lately, I’ve been called to really notice life around me. Even what I would know to be the most mundane or ordinary, I’m prompting myself to observe what’s around, and most importantly, what I’m drawn to, and how my body responds in even the slightest of ways – whether to a sound or a breeze, an interaction, or a smell. Though this city is known for a lot, namely, its lights and colors, energy and pace, as someone who lives here, winter isn’t quite the glamor you’d expect. Today was grey and hazy, and the trees lining my block were mostly bare and skeletal. As I was lugging a bag full of clothes, I did notice a line of trees, uniformed, with their burnt orange leaves hanging on to their branches like ornaments. This made me pause to take in the sight, hoping to remember it in my mind’s eye. In a brief moment of sun, I noticed how these trees brought life into an otherwise cold and gloomy day.

For me, this is the simple essence of noticing. Noting what my eyes were drawn to, what gave me a moment of awe, or filled me with easy gratitude. I also think embodying this approach compounds itself into something bigger, something that can add up to meaning in life.

At the laundromat, I noticed that they had upgraded some of their washers, replacing smaller ones with bigger machines. Since I usually only use their small machines, it might mean longer wait times for me, so I decided I would check out another laundromat, which was also close by. The other laundromat had more machines, was less busy, and had a larger space. But I ultimately decided not to switch, as when I returned, I recognized one of the owners of the laundromat – he had helped me at my apartment the other day. I recently purchased a new mattress, and he happened to be in the apartment dropping off clothes to another tenant. He offered to help me lift my mattress upstairs to my door, and the mattress was not something I could have carried on my own without his help. And because of his generosity, which he did not have to extend, I decided I would stick to the same laundromat and the same walk back, where I could continue to enjoy the tree-lined block.