Letting Go
Something that I haven’t experienced much since I have been down in Chicago is the morning. Waking up early has been a very rare occurrence and so I wanted to see Lincoln Park in that light. It was an early cool fall day at about 7:30 a.m. and I wanted to just walk. Right as I walked out my room I immediately felt fresh and excited for the walk. It felt good already to be up with all of the early morning people just barely chugging along. As I exited my dorm my eyes immediately drew to this light pole across the street that was the most perfect match for my color green I found the entire walk. Not only was there a color green that matched but also found a yellow that was painted on the sidewalk that matched pretty well.
I felt very alive for it being so early and me usually being a zombie during these times. The air was crisp, cool, and still. Everything seemed to be waking up with me, the plants, colors, people. As I took a left my eyes then got drawn onto a vape package that was thrown onto the ground.
The colors were almost an identical match. The package was in a very random spot and was meant for me to find in that moment. I felt connected with Lincoln Park as I kept on walking. The entire city felt as one now more than ever before for me. The feeling of the streets are changed this early in the morning. Everything has a certain stillness and blandness almost, but not in a bad way. The blandness might come from my eyes being adjusted or the way the sun is shining but either way it looks that way. I was walking near our campus and stumbled upon some smaller leaves that felt like they could make my yellow color just disappear inside them.
The yellow color was a weird one. It would look like it would match up perfectly then I would go to take a picture and it for some reason just looked very different. I believe the lighting from the sun and the early morning was contributing to this. Anyways, walking past the library and all of those buildings I stumble upon some plants. These plant’s I believe aren’t this color naturally but they appear this color green in the mornings.
Finding the last color yellow was seemingly impossible for me. The energy was running out and the wind was picking up minute by minute. I decided to walk through the library. As I opened the door I immediately felt it was right. I looked to the left and sure enough there is a very good match for my coneflower yellow.
Walking in the morning was a very good choice for me. You get an important sense of self in the morning, everyone goes to themselves and it’s a very relaxing aura throughout. The colors walked me all the way down our campus and I made the last detour because I felt the need to. Walking in the morning also made me feel alive for the rest of the day. You already have attacked the dreaded morning so everything becomes easier. As I watch the colors change from outside the window it’s really incredible. The sky opens up and shines more light as everything begins to slowly take form and reveal itself. The morning is a great time to be able to see things that you’ve never noticed before. You are kind of in a trance and not the most attentive but still are able to point out and feel things that seem to blend in any other time of day.
In “Cities Belong to Us” Leo Hollis has a unique interpretation of the city and how citizens should interact with it. He takes a point from another author that wants to change how people view their city. The shops, streets, restaurants, and everything in between. To view it without restrictions he thinks will refine the city and the city will now have much better participation. Hollis believes that everyone should have a “right” to the city and be able to express themselves openly. He wants the way we view spaces to be more fair and open. The public spaces should be used as such but that also shouldn’t be something that is weird to us. He says that these spaces are depleting without us even knowing about it and so we have to choose wisely now how we utilize them. In Ward’s article, the connection is perfect as the artists that made the mural fully utilized the public spaces. They were able to unite and spark a message out there in a space that should be used as such. (179 Words)
