new york diaries: rainy central park to harlem

a few weeks ago, on an especially moody day, I left my phone at home and went on a long walk through a rainy central park. I took the C train to 81st street, meandered through the park, walked up and exited into Harlem, found Levain Bakery and picked up cookies, and then, walked thirty blocks to 148th street, where I was staying with a friend.

there is something beautiful and empowering about going on a long walk without a device in your pocket — nothing to take photos with, look up directions with, receive text messages with. you feel like you're truly alone with yourself; unreachable — except by the other human beings next to you. it made life — lived through the senses — feel more real.

humans have been going on long walks without technology since the beginning of time. and yet, in our day and age, it feels like such a novelty. when you don't carry a computer in your pocket, your mind processes things differently. I wanted to remember what I saw without the aid of a camera. so I challenged myself to distill things to their essence. to capture the feeling of those moments, those places.

here are a few scenes from that walk — all sketched from memory.

a japanese garden path — it was raining and cold, and the park nearly empty. I followed little paths until I felt completely lost and alone in what felt like a forested garden, reminiscent of other gardens I've been to in faraway continents. here's a winding path in lush greenery, overlooking a window of water, with foggy buildings in the distance.

little pond in the rain — I stood here at the edge of the pond under my umbrella, watching the rain cast ripples on the water. here, I found a place inside of myself where the most vulnerable, wounded part of me dwelled — and I spoke to her gently, assuring her that all would be well.

calm reservoir after rain, with cityscape - I don't know how many times I've walked this path along the reservoir, but it felt completely different after rain — lit in half sun — like the water, the city, the world had been cleansed of all dirt and bad things. at least for the moment. I felt calm and unhurried, encircling the lake.

harlem, near apollo theater - I wandered around Harlem, vaguely remembering that there was a famous bakery — levain — where the cookies were as enormous and decadent as cakes. how do you find a place without Google Maps? you wander for a while, relying on gut instinct, and then, you ask people on the street for directions. I asked two women in the neighborhood — the first strangers I've approached in a very long time — and this way of human navigation felt good. I carried the cookies thirty blocks through harlem — harlem in golden hour, harlem against the setting sun.

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