moving to the metronome
as i crossed the street at an intersection today i noticed that the pedestrian signal was moderating the pace at which i walked, an expectant tik-tik-tik playing from speakers suspended somewhere in the air above me. as the invisible timer wound down, a faster, high-pitched beep-beep-beep layered itself on top of the tik-tik-tik and, right on cue, my feet began to pick up their pace.
i wanted to be irritated at the realization that my movement was being moderated by the city’s traffic light engineers, but instead i felt a sense of peace and calm. on a monday like today, with an adult list of to-dos weighing heavily on my shoulders, it was soothing to be guided through the intersection as if by an invisible hand; a reassurance that i wasn’t responsible for the pace at which i traveled from point A to point B.
my Ex, a pipeline simulation engineer, once remarked to me how similar the flow of people and cars in traffic is to the flow of oil through a pipeline. and so, inspired by today’s crosswalk signal, i imagined myself as a pearly molecule of oil and listened keenly to the sound-and-vibrational cues of the other droplets (aka people) and machines in perpetual motion around me. during a mid-afternoon walk i scurried along beside a street sweeper going whoosh-whoosh on the sidewalk. i then passed a small makeshift fair that had been temporarily set up for Carnival Monday, and my ears tingled at the yo-yoing “aaaahs” from riders as they swept through the air on a pendulum swing. in the evening i leaned into the bump-bump-bump of our biceps as Ulrich and i took turns scraping burnt crispies from the bottom of the frying pan i had used to make fried rice.
when i think about surrender, the first association i make is usually to the idea of acceptance, of kneading oneself into an outcome which is neither controllable nor ideal. but today i have experienced another flavor of surrender: the allowing of others’ vibration, letting their motion be the thing which lifts and carries you through your day.
Omword this is incredible.