Sunset Over Manhattan

I've been so busy over the past bunch of monthes that I haven't had as much time for long walks.  This is kind of a shame, because I love long walks, but also awesome because I'm pursuing all kinds of interesting things like teaching, martial arts, and oh, right, that almost full-time yoga teacher school that I will be finished with in four weeks.  Holy cow.  

One thing yoga has really been confirming for me, is to take time and enjoy the little moments in the present.  This is something I already knew, and, if I didn't, it's all over the internet, and in every self-help book that's ever been published.  But, seriously, take a second, look around you, and be in the moment.  I'm learning a lot more of the psychology and science of this concept in my classes, because it's not just an intrinsic portion of yoga, it's essential and one of the goals along the journey.  It's so healthy to do this- to just experience what is happening instead of being wrapped up in your mind.

Actors have this problem basically all of the time.  It's possibly the number one problem I see for actors, and I'm becoming obsessed with how, through the body and voice, to teach my students how to break free of this.  My hypotheses are plentiful, and I'm learning that the answers are different for each individual person, but that certain exercises work for more than others.

This brings me to my next thing- it's not just actors who can benefit from this- working on the body, the voice, and the mind.  Everyone can.  What do I want to do about this?  Not sure yet.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my beautiful, long walks, like this one over the Manhattan Bridge.  The view of the sun setting over the financial district.  The vibrant glow of bright spray paint and metal in its rays.  The small flowers along the side of the path.  

 

The little things.  Life.

Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

A View from the Bridge

No, not the Arthur Miller play... 

Though, you win super brownie points if you knew that "A View from the Bridge" is the title of an Arthur Miller play.  Brownie points and kudos.  And rainbows, puppies and unicorns.  Invisible ones.

I'm talking about the Manhattan Bridge.  It's a bridge that connects Manhattan's Canal Street to Brooklyn's Flatbush Avenue.  It was the only bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn that I had not walked over.  Now, I have walked over it.  I did it on Thursday, when it was about 50 degrees Farenheit outside, and the world was basically made of smiles and roses.  The view was excellent.

  I did mess up a bit and walked on the bike lane side instead of the pedestrian lane side... but I couldn't find the entrance!  I'm probably an idiot, but it didn't seem that well marked.  In any case, the sun was setting, and photographs of the Brooklyn Bridge etc. to the south would have just had massive amounts of backlight and sun flare.  That would have been cool, but the more standard photographs that I was able to capture of the northern view from the bridge, and the Williamsburg Bridge are what you see here.  I'm rather proud of them, and I hope you enjoy!

Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA