May 15, 2023
Reflection
SUNRISE ON THE ATLANTIC
Woke up
early enough
to watch the
sun come up
out of the Atlantic
Ocean.
A giant ball
of red orange fire ….
The game of
a new day –
has just started.
“Play ball” –
“Hit the ball over”
the net on
this volley ball court of earth.
Lord, remind
me it’s a game –
this new day
of life – not
all work, work, work….
© Reflections, Andy Costello
May 15, 2023
Quote for today
"What attracts people most in a city are other people. It is amazing how many pedestrian malls are designed on the assumption that what people want to do is get away from other people. We see this in the design of sitting areas where the backs of people are turned to the main flow of people. A brief study will convince you of the deep desire of people to be in the center and at the crossroads. We became aware of this in our early research on street corner behavior. When people meet on a street corner, do they move out of the pedestrian stream or do they stay in the middle of it? My hypothesis was that people would gravitate to the little-used strip along the side of the stream. Quite the contrary, they moved into it, and the longer the conversation, the more likely that it would take place smack in the very middle of the traffic stream.
Learn to look at steps. If people are sitting on steps and actually blocking passage, it is a good thing. It means they are very comfortable there.
Probably the greatest public space in the city - the most unifying of all - is the street corner. Street corners are the place where so much of the congress of the city goes on, and it has a vey functional reason. Take 'smoozing in the garment district of New York. If you go along Seventh Avenue, any time from 10 o'clock in the morning until dark, you will see these knots of men standing on the sidewalks talking, sometimes not talking. Smoozing is a Yiddish term which means 'nothing talk.' Of course there is a lot of business talk, a lot of gossip, but then you begin to notice they resemble men standing around a country courthouse. It is a very ancient city position that fulfills some deep human impulse. Smoozing is not necessary talking. Right after lunch, usually three or four men will line up - three abreast. They are not necessarily saying anything but seem to be engaged in a contented amiable silence. Watch their feet. The feet reflect a communication. If a girl goes by, the feet reveal what they are thinking. Or some crazy person goes by and one guy stops his foot pattern and then another will take it up. Larger groups reveal similar foot motions, and you will also notice the tendency to reciprocal gestures.
I have never broken the code about the meaning of these foot motions, but I feel that there is in these non-verbal patterns a human congress that is terribly important, and that if we do not see them in a city there is something very wrong with the city. There are a number of places where you do not see this kind of activity: something about the collection of buildings and streets which prohibits this kind of thing. Now, I would give you other ways to buttress this point, but instead will repeat my former statement: what attracts people most to the city are other people.
William H. Whyte, "The City as Dwelling"
May 14.2024
MOMS
Off to the side a moment
after our birth – our mother steps back.
But if we looked at a mother’s face
at that time – we’d see the joy
Jesus talked about when
a new kid has come into the world?
Who doesn’t stop to wiggle
their fingers at a new born baby’s eyes?
The kid – we haven’t had the time yet
to mess up – so we all celebrate a baby –
but moms are with us forever -
always looking at their kids – hoping -
in the forever after that - no matter what.
© Reflections, Andy Costello
May 13, 2023
LONELINESS
I’m telling a joke,
someone walks in and my audience
walks away – looks away. They
start talking with the others – not me. So
I’m dropped. It’s seems to be happening
more and more lately. Feeling: I guess
I’ve become rather boring.
Two people are whispering – hands
covering their mouth. I feel I don’t count.
Do I? Aging seems to
be a death sentence
and I am not ready for that right now.
I feel like I’ve become a me to me situation –
a me to me – me plus me situation. I feel sorry –
sorry for being me right now.
© Reflections, Andy Costello
May 13, 2023
Quote for Today
"I never felt so lonely as in that particular hour when I was surrounded by people but suddenly realized my ultimate isolation. I became silent and retired from the group in order to be alone with my loneliness. I wanted my external predicament to match my internal one.
"Loneliness can be conquered only by those who can bear solitude. We have a natural desire for solitude because we are men. We want to feel what we are - namely, alone - not in pain and horror, but with joy and courage. There are many ways in which solitude can be sought and experienced. And each way can be called 'religious,' if it is true, as one philosopher said, that 'religion is what a man does with his solitariness.'"
Paul Tillich in Eternal Now
May 12, 2023
EPIPHANIES
We have them
from time to time –
"a ha" moments
– sudden surprises -
oh yeah – yes
– that’s what happened.
The sun
rises – comes up out of East -
pushing aside
the clouds of darkness –
revealing Christ
– Bethlehem – in
my backyard –
or Calvary – if we’ve
been hurt –
humiliated – or condemned -
all for others – others – another.
© Reflections, Andy Costello
