inspired adjective
- of extraordinary quality, as if arising from some external creative impulse

Friday, October 14, 2011

Yoga Hike


My problem has always been that I often feel at home in two places, almost as if I have each foot in different worlds. I love the city but I love camping. I enjoy traveling and being on the move, yet I also appreciate being at home and having a little stability. While it is great to be able to fully appreciate both, I have found that it is often tough to really feel like I am getting enough of each world, as if I am constantly trying to strike a balance between the two. 

That being said, I know that now that I am back living in New York City, I need to actively seek out outlets for a nature fix. Living near the park has been great for that, and I have been trying to run through the winding trails of the oasis that is Prospect Park at every chance I get. I was also thrilled to find a Google Offer to Gear to Go, a hiking and backpacking outfitters store that offers weekend hiking trips out of the city. Their tag-line reads "Helping you journey the road less traveled." Done.

I booked the yoga hike in the Shawangunk Mountains, a ridge that extends up to the Catskills and is about an hour and a half trip by car from the city. I am not as familiar with the hiking opportunities in New York, so this was a good opportunity to make a connection with the great people at Gear to Go and pick their brains about the potential in the area. We lucked out with a gorgeous day, and the trees had just started to show evidence of Fall. Along with a group of 8 others, a yoga instructor, and two guides from Gear to Go, we hiked up the 6-mile loop and had an hour yoga session at the top before sitting down for a backcountry lunch. 

Don't get me wrong, I love the city. I had sincerely missed its energy, mix of cultures, opportunities, and events. However, it was a welcomed change to have the ability to go walking in the woods, take the time to breathe in fresh air, take off my shoes to feel the contours of a rock-face beneath my bare feet, and notice birds. Balance is good for the soul. 


When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. — Wendell Berry

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Skills


Between the amazing talent of this biker and the beautiful shots captured on the screen, this video is well worth passing along. Speaking of, biking in New York City is definitely much different than biking in Oregon. I am now fully realizing how wonderful it was to have the bike culture so progressively incorporated into the culture of the city. New York is getting there. The planned bike share program kicking into gear next summer will be a welcomed addition to making biking more safe and convenient in the city (especially as drivers, taxis, buses, and pedestrians become increasingly familiar with more bikers on the road). Until then, definitely crucial to be on guard at all times, but I am getting the hang of it. Probably will not be busting out moves like this anytime soon, but you never know. 

Friday, October 7, 2011

JR in Brooklyn

Back in June I wrote about the creative visionary and street artist JR's presence in New York and the Through a Mother's Eyes project he brought to life in the South Bronx. I am a huge fan of his community-driven artwork and the bold statements made through each project he does. His latest community art installation, the Inside Out Project, is a beautiful global participatory art project that "transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work... to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world."

I have been loving seeing the different images documented from participants worldwide and was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to stumble upon an installation that is a block away from where I now work in Brooklyn. It completely made my day: 


You can find out more about the Inside Out Project, and even upload a photo to participate yourself, here.

Monday, October 3, 2011

new york city.





"There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter— the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something.


Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settlers give it passion."

-E.B. White Here is New York