New York: Rotation and Revolution

6/18/18

If everyone is a single point in a moment in time, then one of the few motion that can exist is probably rotation about its own axis. Just like the earth, spinning about its own axis may sound simple, but the amount of physics and mathematics that is needed to describe its action is pretty mind boggling. Then again, each life is mid boggling, with hidden depth and various unknown. (Seriously, I am rapidly losing this whole metaphor…bear with me!)

Have I ever mentioned that I sweat a lot? I do. Sweat pour out of my body from every nooks and crevices imaginable, like some unending hot spring. Yet, I also made up a resolution a few years back that still makes no sense: I’ll run in every city I visit. Unsurprisingly, I decided to run in the largest urban park in NYC: Central Park. With the temperature pushing lower 90s, I slowly moved through the park, all the while pouring down sweat like a broken faucet. I was drenched within minutes. The scenery, however, more than made up for it. There were tourists overheating, dogs looking reproachfully at their owners, and children with rosy cheeks trying to keep up with their parents. Oh, of course, the skyline help with my distraction too.

After a quick shower, I once again wasted through a shirt before reaching The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City. The largest art museum in the USA, it boasts huge collection of arts and antiques, from Roman to Egyptian. At $25 fee for non-NY residents, but “donation only” for NY residents, it has been one of my favorite place to visit (and a great place to escape from the heat). Wandering through exhibits, I both admired and compared the torsos of Greek/Roman and Egyptian. If statues are accurate representation of their models, i guess a book on ancient Greek diet/exercise routine would top the charts. Even I got a little jealous of all the muscles on Greek statues. (No, not those muscles…)

My next and last major stop in NYC was also the one that excited me the most: Highline Park. A 1.45 mile long greenway that used to be elevated train tracks, it combined engineering with urban design and landscape architecture, resulting in a pretty impressive green space that evolved into a community gathering place. It is a good example of turning unused structures into public space (similar to Gasworks Park in Seattle). Even with the oppressive heat, it was interesting to walk on the elevated parkway, while observing other users enjoying the space. Of course, by the end of an hour, I was soaked again and escaped into a coffee shop to air-dry myself.

As I was drinking yet another ice-coffee, a thought occurred to me. If we are just a point rotating, what about all the connections we have formed? Do they spin as we rotate, causing a revolution around each of us? And if everyone’s convection does revolve and rotate, the tapestry that form is both complicate and intricate. A removal of one node, a disappearance of a life, can cause a erasure of not just a dot, but a while pattern. Maybe the circle of life is not just a circle, but a multiple dimension figure that spins and moves, depending on each individual’s contribution to the whole. A loss of one life is not just a single loss, but a collective one that cancel out a collection of pattern.

Now, please excuse me while a very sweaty me find a way to smell less bad before dinner….