Thoughts on a City

I recently visited some old Swags in New York City on a rainy Friday night. The air was cool and calm as it collected and quickly dissipated my Maryland aura. There was no time to adjust to the new surroundings; if you tried to, you would miss everything. Searching for shelter, we stumbled into the historic St. Nick’s pub on 149th Street around midnight where live jazz music perpetuates in the heart of Harlem.

Once inside, the vibe was incredible and certainly tangible. The people were lively and ever shifting and smiling. The band began to play. The cymbals sizzled and the double bass pulsed. The piano player fingered those familiar walking staccato jazz chords. A saucy chanteuse emerged scatting in front of the band while her path from the bar to the stage was slowly overtaken by the crowd. This woman was not afraid to look her audience in the eye individually for extended moments. Alas, her eyes caught mine and we exchanged a lengthy stare. The intense surreality of that moment shattered my inner capacity and I looked away. She had somehow jumped onto my page and dog-eared it. It was a moment that approached the supernatural.

These moments occur to me periodically while viewing art, listening to music, and when enjoying earthly enhancers. It is a peak into the possibility of something else beyond our five senses, a crack between worlds.

The following afternoon we stood over a central stone in Strawberry Fields adjacent to the Dakota Hotel, that read the word, IMAGINE. One can only do just that while sitting on the surrounding park benches. The word conjures up a thousand thoughts. The memorial is moving and extremely effective. Even with cameras and kids, the scene around the stone is quiet and respectful. That one word has more meaning then a novel of words.

Our imaginations have always been a tool for invention. Many things we have conceived or predicted have indeed happened. We have also imagined divine worlds, peoples, and events. Does the divine supernatural exist? Maybe, but the kind of supernatural I’m talking about is beyond that. It is beyond the heavens, existing within a planet that we need to take charge of by taking care of. You got it.