This Is How I Learnt to Stay

What happens when we fall in love with stillness?

I was sitting on an old wooden bench in Central Park shielding my eyes from the harsh sun, tired after navigating miles and miles of New York when I noticed something I see every day.

People taking a walk.

By themselves. With their pets. With their friends. With their partners. With their children. With their families.

I had originally intended to rest only for a few minutes but as I continued to remain there, this watchful stillness grew on me. Breath slowly became air. And I was transfixed, waiting for whatever the universe wanted to show me.

The first people I noticed were a couple, holding hands, talking about their day. A lanky Caucasian man with blonde hair and a spectacled face, and a young Latina with sharp features and beautiful curly hair. They were smiling nervously as they glanced at each other; it felt like young love even from a distance. Behind them was a young German mother with her hyperactive son and daughter, probably on their usual trail through the park. And then there was a Pakistani family complete with doting grandparents pushing a pram, accompanying the young parents and the jewel of their hearts.

That trail was an endless carousel of human stories and desires. And if we stayed still long enough we would realize that we already have everything we’ve ever asked for. We may not have received it immediately but we did eventually. Does that not matter? So stay the course. Because there is so much life has yet to give.