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

All the Boats in Boston

Almost every major city (that I have visited, anyways) seems to be based around a river or a lake.  This makes sense, of course, since waterways were once, and to a degree still are, a main form of travel and commerce, as well as a source of that all- important resource, you know, water.  Water is kind of necessary for human life.  Well, most animal life, actually.  Plant life too.  Life.

For some reason, however, I'm consistently surprised by the presence of these bodies-of-H2O. Every city has cool bridges, and neat scenes of bridges and boats.  And every time, I become excited.  I like waterfront scenes very much.  There's something wonderfully serene about rippling water, and the vessels floating upon it.  My shoulders immediately descend a few inches away from my ears, and my breath becomes deeper, slower.  Classical music starts swirling around my brain. I suppose this is why those relaxation tapes with sounds of waves are sold as often as they are.  We, us human peoples, tend togravitate towards the calming essence of water.  It makes cities a little bit more manageable and pleasant.  I know that a highlight of my day is always the bridge portion of my subway ride on the way to work.  The way home from work is in the summertime, but right now, it is very, very dark by the time I'm on my way back to our apartment.  

I like water.  I like boats.  I took some photos of them.  I hope you like them too.