I spent pretty much all of today in Central Park, just walking around and taking photos and videos of the people and places around me. I really wanted to get out of the city and back into nature for a while, and this was the perfect refuge. The sun was warm and the air cool but not cold, smelling of leaves and fresh air. Today was a perfect day for exploring. The lighting was beautiful and golden despite it only being about 2pm when I took a lot of these, and I did my best to use that to show the slower pace in the park compared to the city around it. I love how no matter where you look in this city you can find someone creating something beautiful. Essentially, you need only turn around to find an artist. I walked underneath a bridge that I found beautiful and had stopped to take some photos of (see below), and came across several painters on the other side who clearly were admiring and capturing the same thing.
In a city that appears to move non-stop, it was incredibly refreshing to see others stopping to smell the fallen leaves, as it were. The people around me were, for the most part, clearly taking a break from the hustle and bustle of normal life to ground themselves in nature again. I passed many painters, writers, sketchers, and photographers as I walked along the park’s winding paths. I love exploring places like this and wondering about the stories of those passing me by. It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in our own personal bubbles and shut the outside world out, forgetting that strangers are leading their own lives with their own joys and difficulties. Really, if you stop and think about it, all that separates a friend from a stranger is a conversation or two. Today was slow-paced, beautiful, incredibly relaxing yet tiring, and exactly what I needed at this point in the trip. I guess this place really does have it all.
Sabina Catherine 