I’m sure many other New York-dwellers (I’m always hesitant to use the phrase New-Yorkers, because too many times I have heard that you can live here your whole life and not be a ‘New-Yorker’, so I don’t want to flatter my petty 2-year stint) find beautiful, inspirational things every day while walking on the streets.Regardless of whether it be a breathtaking sunset, or a homeless person boisterously jangling change in a cup rapping on 14th street outside of Walgreens (have you seen that guy? he’s great…) every once in a while there are ‘moments’ where you just have to slow down your walking pace, breathe, and appreciate.
If you’ve ever taken the BDFV to 42nd street and taken the underground tunnel to get over to 5th Ave, then you will have seen where I had my ‘moment’ the other day. Usually, these underground tunnels are smelly, uncomfortable, sticky, narrow, and a couple more unpleasant adjectives. But as I took my eyes off of my feet for two seconds, I saw that the walls had these quotes and designs on them, not typical of your usual grimy tunnel. The first one I saw was the best, and frankly, the only one I could remember;
“Gutta Cavat Lapidem”, Dripping water hollows out a stone-Ovid.
Nice, right? It could mean a variety of things, connotations positive and negative. First, it made me think about humans as ‘drops’, each a small entity in comparison to the broader scope of our entire planet living out our daily lives. Who would have thought that our species could be the one to so profoundly change the ecology of our earth, sucking it dry of its resources and completely altering its original landscape. It’s uncanny.
But then, to try and reverse this depressing, pessimistic train of thought, I envisioned ‘drops’ as revolutionaries; people, words, or ideas that started small but have since shaped more inclusive, fair, and positive futures for all. The Civil Rights movement, Pacifism, Free Love, Women’s Suffrage, and millions more are all very different in structure, goals, composition, and influence, yet all start with ideas that seem small yet aim to bring down mountains. Most close to home, I thought about the environmental movement, and how much it has grown in the past couple of years. The NYU Sustainability Coordinator, Jeremy Friedman, always speaks about how it is a “Wild West” of people now looking to get out there and spread green to whoever HOWEVER they can. Better a Wild West than a barren desert. The movement is slowly pushing its way into consciousness’ of individuals who one would never have imagined would even speak the word ‘environment.’ Exxon Mobil? General Motors? Our very own governments are imposing laws and regulations to maintain a stable, healthy, “sustainable” environment for generations to come. It thrills me that people understand it is beyond a fad, but rather, it is a paradigm shift. (for all of you who took a class with Mr. Tom Collins, the god of life-altering educational experience, I’m sure this makes you smile)
Unfortunately, I did not realize that the BDFV did not take me anywhere close to where I should have gotten off to go to my best friend’s brother’s apartment. But whatever, some mistakes are worth it.
