How To Make The Most Of It
A v short essay on why I’m currently obsessed with polenta, car exhaust and losing my headphones (!)
This morning I woke up in a bit of a funk. I needed to sweat it out; the plan was, as it is on many mornings, to get up, have a sip of day old coffee, lace up my sneakers and hit the streets of Brooklyn for a two mile jog to the gym.
I just returned from a glorious trip to Venice, Italy, courtesy of my fabulous Aunt, who loves to travel and share the love when she does with her niece (#c’estmoi). We ate a lot of pasta but we also walked for miles and miles through the crooked ancient streets of a city designed to literally get you lost. So I didn’t feel too fat upon my return. But still.
A morning sweat revitalizes me and prepares me for a day of work like no other jumpstarter, steroid or stimulant. Plus, when I work out, I can justify all the ridiculous shit I love to eat and write about it ON HERE, FOR YOU. It’s all a labor of love, really.
But anyway, when I checked my pockets before jetting out the door today, I realized my headphones were missing. Not just any headphones–the newly minted classic white ones made specifically for my iPhone 7. Can’t just use regular headphones anymore; need the ones with the USB adapter. What a time to be alive.
Boyfriend was sleeping peacefully but I woke him up anyway: “babe. I can’t find them. Ugh should I even go? Am I really going to run through the streets of the industrial, forgotten wasteland that is Bushwick in complete silence???” This meant no Lil’ Yachty for the warm up, no Bruce for the finish line. I almost didn’t go. But then I said, “okay, fuck it. Guess I’m doing this.”
And I’m so glad I did. The moment I stepped outside onto the cold, hard, littered pavement near the Jefferson St. stop, I was instantly tuned into my surroundings. Cars rolled past, trucks hissed and groaned (and honked, let’s be honest). Children laughed. The rain was filled with an almost putrid car exhaust smell but I kind of loved it. The graffiti was shocking neon. More cars honked.
I’ve been reading Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler lately, and it’s taught me to appreciate the power of the present in the world of hospitality and to trust your senses. They don’t deceive you. Between this inspirational read and my recent trip to Italy in which I didn’t have a cellphone, I feel like a part of me has grown up significantly in the past week–not sure if it actually just “happens” like this, but consider it my quarter life crisis that I am now much more aware of the world around me, what salt means in a dish and the person with who I eat dinner almost every night. Shout out to my b/f.
It’s times like these that we should be aware of our surroundings. We should listen and love and care, genuinely, not just for a false aura of empathy.
