Commute

Time is amplified by the intersection pause.

Everything else is purely motion.

My commutes are measured by intersections. A pause, a glance, and proceeding steps...accelerated. Motion is life; to pause would be fatal. Morning and evening experiences are rarely the same twice. There is always a factor to obscure or alter what was present on the street the day before. Sun, precipitation, sounds, smells, amplified by the direct sensational connection that binds us to the environment. Immediate choices limited only by the tendency to repeat the familiar. Routine habits can shape and dictate what often becomes our limited experiential path.

I have commuted by foot for the better part of the past decade. The streets and sidewalks of diverse cities have been my trade routes. Denver, San Francisco and Seoul have all played backdrop to my daily pedestrian experiences. It is a choice really, that more could make but time is always a factor. In San Francisco I currently walk just over two miles each way to and from my office. Most wouldn't think of doing it, although personally I have come to rely on it as the most meditative moments of my day.

The streets exist as infinite options. Any number of directions prompt rediscovery of what was once forgotten; that hidden place in memory of experiences past. I seek that rediscovery daily, tempted by trails of sunlight that stream through parted buildings and walls that shield from driving rain. The city protects from and exposes me to the environment, lifting its form to reveal a desirable crease; passage.

I enter places yet undiscovered and am satisfied by space worth longing for. There is so much to uncover walking.