Central Park is one of the wonders of the world in my book. An 843 green acre playground in this concrete, glass, and steel infested metropolis we call New York. Central Park became and has been such a natural part of Manhattan for so long now many of us forget it's almost entirely man made. This weekend I thought to myself, witnessing this man made natural beauty may just provide the well deserved escape I so badly need.

You see.... I've had a rough couple of months, constantly not being able to tell from one day to the next if things are coming or going. There are just so many things changing around me right now that it's incredibly difficult to feel normal these days, and I feel I need to regain the inspiration and passion that drove me not that long ago.

A walk in Central Park usually helps me shake off moods like this. So after a brief subway ride from Queens into New York City, I made my way into the park, and walked to one of my favorite parts of the park to people watch: The Bethesda Terrace

I sat there quietly on the stairs watching one person after another pass me, and for some reason, on this trip to Central Park the terrace was just not doing anything for me. I found myself getting a little too warm in the late summer sun, and slowly I became frustrated that one of my favorite locations in Central Park had little comfort to offer me on this day. I got up hastily and ventured towards the park exit, with every intention of heading back home.

As I got closer to Strawberry Fields, I noticed the usual crowd of people gathering around Yoko Ono's tribute to John Lennon...as I broke through the crowd...I looked at a single word on the ground in the black-and-white mosaic pathway, I-M-A-G-I-N-E, and at that moment it was as if a thousand pounds was lifted off my shoulders. I could hear the song in my thoughts... and I can't tell you why, but there was just something about the moment, that made it seem as if all my trouble's had vanished.

I went on to imagine further. I imagined a world where we were no longer dependent on oil, a world where 80% of what we consume came from a sustainable source, a world where we treated each other equally and justly, a world where we did not have to worry about global warming, a world that all of you can imagine and hope to achieve too...

They might say I am a dreamer...but I am not the only one... IMAGINE

Chris
Queens, New York