But today was a different kind of day for me. Maybe it was the sudden refreshing coolness that made me appreciate the smooth transition from grey pavement to grey building to grey sky. Maybe it was my morning yoga class that left me a little more enlightened and calm than usual. Or maybe it was starting my day by watching our nation’s past and current leaders honoring the life and accomplishments of Ted Kennedy. It gave me hope that that as long as we embrace leaders who learn from their mistakes, make an effort to understand the viewpoints of others – despite ideological differences – and truly believe in the power of their own actions to make the world a better place, that tomorrow and every day after it will be better than today.
“The future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make.”
At the risk of sounding like a sentimental loser, (you’ll have to excuse me, but as a Massachusett’s girl, political junky and lefty at heart, I’ll miss the Liberal Lion dearly), I’ll leave you, dear readers, with three little experiences I had this morning that made me smile to myself and, perhaps, gave me a tidbit more faith in humanity. Sure, as MLR so kindly pointed out, the leap from Teddy K. to homeless men eating ice cream is a big one. But today I'm seeing the world through rose colored glasses in honor of someone who, like New York, wasn't perfect, but always came through when you needed him to.
A homeless man eating a pint of Ben and Jerry’s like it was truly the most glorious moment of his life. Sure, maybe he was stoned off his ass or something, but I like to think that he was finding joy in Phish Food instead of vodka and heroin.
Three surly-looking hipsters sitting around talking about how they were moving to the suburbs to give their children better lives instead of staying in the city, which is what they’d prefer to do for themselves. And here I thought they were going to be talking about each other's plaid shirts and keffiyehs.
A morning conversation between two older women at the neighborhood specialty store about the beauty of supporting local, family run businesses – even if they charge us an extra dollar for milk in the middle of a terrible recession.
A random man walking by stopping to help a delivery boy right an entire rack of bicycles he had knocked over moments earlier, despite the fact delivery boys probably have the worst karma ever as a result of purposefully trying to run over pedestrians on a daily basis.
Even though for every good thing we witness, there are probably 10 men out there trying to peek up the skirt of a girl sitting in the window seat at Starbucks, some days maybe its just important to let these things roll off your back and to actively look for what you want to see – and for me today, that was hope.
