Wildline

When I was on spring break, I went to New York for the first time. I saw buildings that reached to the sky, people of all walks of life, and the visible shine of passion and pride in the air. Everybody there was independently thriving but contributing to a large and open expanse of social culture, which I think is the most human thing to happen, and is one of the rare yet daily occurances that i admire so deeply. Everybody happily co-existing and helping each other when needed is absolutely beautiful, and to me what humanity is. The subway and streets show this best, there were so many people crammed into an underground piece of steel in silence or walking briskly on the cold concrete below, all communicating paragraphs of unspoken dialogue.

This leads you to not only see the humanity of everyone here, but also to learn a lot about them if you look past first impressions and face value. There was a man across from me with a small white dog on a leash. It stood on his knees for a few stops, but eventually became restless and leaped down to the unwashed aisle. He allowed this without a second thought to the people around him, eyes glued to his phone, only a slight regrasp of the leash in response. There was a small, quiet woman with a bright blue and yellow hat that displayed her vibrant personality if you really paid attention. There were couples leaning on each other’s shoulders, people standing and gesturing for an older or disabled person to sit down, contradicting the indifferent and ignorant presence of their earbuds in and phone in hand.

While walking to a little italy pizza place in the outskirts of manhattan, each unsmiling person on the streets knew where they were going, too. Some were dressed up like they were going to a fashion show before an extravagant after party while some were dressed as if they had just rolled out of bed, but regardless of what their clothes looked like or where they were headed, you could tell one thing about all of them.

They all had, even if it is just for the moment, a drive, a passion, and a purpose to their lives that they have the dedication, will, and spirit to follow it. It’s not just in New York where you can see this, it’s everywhere really, it just took me until New York to truly see it. Where you are doesn’t have anything to do with this drive, but your drive brings you to where you are.