As I write this, I am cooking my Week of Chicken in Scott's kitchen while my laundry tumbles dry, just down the hall. I think the distinction between a regular Highrise and the Luxury Highrise buildings in NYC is that the Luxury buildings have Laundry Rooms on every floor while the regulars have the basement Laundry Rooms. At least, it seems a luxury to simply walk a few doors down the hall to do the wash rather than cart it all to the basement, as was the case in my former abode; and there's less worry of stealage.
I sure miss my old place.
My spirits have lifted, noticeably, this week. It could have to do with Mercury leaving Retrograde, it could have to do with my trainer agreeing to train me in preparation for my Cologne competition in return for me writing, designing and building his website (my first Barter Deal; and a good one!), it could have to do with the fact that a couple of people have actually responded to some of my professional outreach. Whatever the reason, things are looking up and I find I am focusing more on the positive and hopeful, without effort.
These first two weeks of intense workouts with Scott (also the name of my trainer) have already begun to let their effects be known. More from the pain of trying to brush my teeth, walk or breathe than from any show-stopping musculature yet, but First Things First.
Making the gym my focus, rather than the yearning for a place to eat, sleep and live, has a better and more immediate yield on virtually a daily basis. It keeps me on my nutritional toes, keeps my blood pumping and clean, offers me ongoing feedback and I sleep much better (though I am tired, tired, tired of the nightmares and chaotic dreamery that awaits me most every night). It's going to be awhile before I have a home apartment; but this I can and am doing, right now.
As my each of my cavalcade of Starbuck's cards depletes, another one seems to show up in the proverbial Nick o'Time; keeping me in caffeine luxury, alert and happy. I'm lucky to have such thoughtful enablers in my life; though I do fear one helluva Caffeine Withdrawal headache should this Silk Road crumble... I think everyone likes the Caffeinated Kile far more than they might the alternative...
Setting the fact of a minimum-wage, part-time job aside, I have the absolute best time when working at Le Marche du Pomme. I have found that there is a correlation between the hush of an intimate, revelatory moment among a stadium full of people and the gasp of personal discovery, one-on-one, as I explore these computers with trepidatious, tentative prospective and new owners of le maque.
I am opening doors for people, helping them to enhance the quality of a part of life that they've been experiencing as difficult or unweildy. Yesterday, spending over two hours with a wonderful woman -- a professor of art at a prestigious local institution -- as I familiarized her with her new machine, she twice welled-up; looking me in the eye and exclaiming quietly, "I had no idea there was so much here, so much HELP here...I've been wrestling with some of these things for years and not getting anywhere..."
That's what we're here for!
When we'd finished, and she was paid, boxed, wrapped and ready to leave the store, I offered my hand and told her I looked forward to seeing her in the store for her private lessons in the coming weeks. She wouldn't accept my handshake, and threw her arms around me in a hug of genuine relief and affection; thanking me for all my patience and help.
"'Tweren't nothin', Li'l Lady," I said, mounting my white stallion and riding off into the stockroom...
As fulfilling as are so many of the client interactions, as I get to know these kids with whom I'm working, I am continually and increasingly amazed and impressed. This is a Sharp, Intelligent Group of Young People. (What can I say; I'm easily two decades older than most of them, and that's being kind....to me.)
Clear-eyed, motivated, inquisitive, open-minded, articulate, diverse...even the ones who think they have some sort of edge are just effin' adorable to me. Not a line on their fresh damn faces; but I can forgive them that... And, interesting? You got that right. I can pick virtually any one of these kids at random, start asking questions, and learn something within moments. They all have much to offer, and my experience is that, for the most part, they each carry within them their own, personal fire. It's fantastic to be around them.
The body of knowledge represented in the staff of my store is profound. The paths that have brought them all to this place at this moment are disparate and well-tread; I'm fascinated to know what paths will take them from here and where some of these kids'll show up, in the future.
Frankly, I'd like to take 'em all and start my own company. There is so much qualified ambition, generosity and motivated intelligence there that it wouldn't matter what we decided to do; we'd likely corner -- or create -- any market.
As well, hearing a group of twenty-somethings break spontaneously into vintage Rolling Stones or Temptations is a little mind-blowing.
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By chance, I discovered Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock" this week. I recommend it. I can see why it wasn't the acclaimed piece in line with some of his iconic, earlier works, as his touch on the subject of the film is feather-light, and his gentle storytelling relates a set of stories that reflect a time of change in this country that was tumultuous, universal and very, very intimate.
I probably should not share even this, as I don't want to set expectations for something that, in my experience, crept up and took me by emotional surprise. There is a series of moments in the film that take place over a short time and, in the context of the overall work, capture the fact and atmosphere of fearful wonder and exhilarating discovery of this Moment in our social history.
Comfortable and peaceful on the sofa and watching this, with Scott, I was unwittingly awash in waves of powerful emotion and wracked with sobs that startled me.
Whether it was the telling of the story or the power of the nostalgia that was being evoked, the experience was profound...and I have returned again, in my mind, to that ten minutes of film over and over, since.
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So, eyes to the Horizon, not forgetting where we've been nor what is most important, let us all remain in touch with our hearts as we clear the rubble of the past year and seek to build and rebuild what has been so damaged. I'm feeling good; I hope that this portent is realized for all of us. That where I'm striving to live, these days...
Perhaps it WILL all come out in the wash...
Oooh. I like the idea of the staff of Marche coming with you to do something..."more". :-)
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