We exit Central Park West at the
museum, deciding to grab a hot pretzel, this delicacy courtesy of one of New
York’s many food trucks. On the way we pass a street vendor touting prints
of past New Yorker magazine covers. The
artwork captivates me.
We spend 5 days in New York City,
and everywhere we go we’re greeted
with kindness and generosity. Mets fans
give us their seats at the playoff game; bartenders, waiters, concierges take
the extra minute to share a story; taxi drivers point out the sites, bus
drivers wave us in even when we can’t come up
with coins to pay the fare; subway riders point us in the right direction when
we look lost. As we recognize this pattern is emerging, even the New Yorkers we
share it with are surprised. When did
this city become so human?
I’m home now, purchasing a 12-week New Yorker subscription
on-line, reveling in the instant gratification the digital world offers me. Of
course, I sign up for the print package, too (no additional cost). I need to hold the illustrations, branded with
that iconic typeface, in my hands.
Diving into my first article (I
can’t resist, it’s about writing after all), the author’s chronical of his education unfolds. He speaks graciously
and voluminously about these storied, published writers (in New York, of
course) who are his instructors; however, his tale is not about what he was
taught, but how he was taught, how he was made to feel.
He speaks of being taken
seriously in the ignorance of incunabula, of bearing witness to the humility
borne from a willingness to see and share failure in the moment, of the power praising
even a shred of goodness plays in fostering perseverance, of a value system
that places family and loved ones over work, of feeling respected and validated
while being told he’s just
submitted some horrible work, and he speaks of the currency that is kindness.
These lessons can be applied
anywhere, in any situation. We are all teachers. We all have something to impart on this
world. Whether it be to our children,
our co-workers, our clients, our teammates, our partners, our friends, our
neighbors, even complete strangers, we all have something, both the masterful and
the mundane, we are put on this earth to share. Say it in a way it will most certainly be
heard.
Life is in some ways so very
simple, if only we can let it be so.
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