The Road Less Traveled

And not a cliche Robert Frost poem.

I - like almost every living thing - am a creature of habit. I follow an almost identical routine for the majority of my week, pausing on weekends to reflect and observe, as well as to do a thing or two that might be more out of the ordinary. Honestly, I have become so entrenched in my own day-to-day living, that it takes little jarring moments to make me realize that I live in an incredible city, surrounded by art and culture and diversity that many people do not get to experience.

It turns out that my life here is more normal than extraordinary. Or maybe these amazing experiences have become so commonplace that I'm a little more jaded than I should be. I see my neighborhood laundromat as a chore rather than a collection of humans and tumbling socks and sheets. Sidewalks are just a way to get from one place to another, and I ignore the cracks and stains, indications that millions of other feet have walked the same path.

But about once a week, I choose to walk home from work via Riverside Drive instead of Broadway, and the jutting beauty of Grant's Tomb and the Riverside Church reminds me that my life is far from normal, and I'm grateful to have the chance to live even a sliver of my existence in a place that so perfectly complements my soul.

I want to take advantage of the diverse paths of this city, using every opportunity I'm given to see things that I've never seen before.