At what point do you move beyond the big picture and really begin to analyze the small stuff? When do you move from understanding the macro and search for the micro? In order to understand the larger concepts in life, you really have to penetrate the paths that lead there. You have to sweat the small stuff.
One of the biggest influences on your scale of comprehension is routine. Routine isn't a word that can be generalized, so i'm going to use it in the context of a work routine: Wake up. Shower. Get Dressed. Wallet, Keys, Cellphone - Check. Out the door. Walk three blocks. Stick your head down the tunnel, yup the train is coming. Enter the train, leave the train. Walk 5 blocks. Revolving door, Elevator. Work. Lunch. 5:30, why am is till here? Walk and don't look back. Subway. Walk and don't look up. Home.
So what effect does this have on you; when your mind tells you that this happens every day, that it isn't important? You've seen it a million times, its no longer unique. How does that effect the way that we behave and the way that we think? For me, it's increased my pace of life. Time moves faster when I always have somewhere to be. Time moves faster when I know what's going to happen next. Time moves faster when I don't have time to observe. Routine has chained me from seeing the small things.
In order for me to see this, to question this and to seek understanding in this i only did one thing. I changed my routine. I ate a different breakfast, took a new route to work and ate lunch at a different time. I wore a new combination of clothes i haven't tried before and I walked out of the way in order to get to where i needed to be. And what happened when all this changed? I walked slower. I observed more. Things felt new again. I appreciated the creak that the door made when i closed it behind me. I noticed the taste of the air from the lobby to the street and felt the cracks in the concrete when i stepped on them. The cold touch of the metal handrail felt refreshing and the puddle at the bottom of the stairs sent small ripples as i stepped in it. Changing small yet almost always unnoticeable habits always tends to open your vision to new things and to new understandings.
I chose to write about this today because I'm one week away from leaving NYC and these small things have begun to become more noticeable. Everyday I find myself seeing farther in to the object upon which i was gazing the day before. I know I'm leaving and I'm soaking it all in. But really, I'm trying to make up for my neglect. I did this when I moved out of my home and left for college, and when i graduated college and left for New York City. I couldn't see how special things really were until I was about to leave. I may be a few days late on this one, but i'm finally laying out my new years resolution:
To walk slower in all aspects of life. To take the time to understand the small things that make a place so special. And to never let routine push life faster than you want it to move.
Cheers to slowing down and always being on the move.
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