The High Line

I was off this Wednesday and planned to sleep in, catch up on some reading, and stay in the house all day because I wanted no part of the extreme heat forecasted for today in New York City. However, when I woke up at my usual time of 5 am, I was full of energy, so I decided to get up and engage in my early morning workout routine.

After working out and taking a nice cold shower, I felt like taking a walk outside to ponder and enjoy being one with nature before the blistering heat kicked in.

While sitting on the couch trying to determine where I wanted to go, I got a sudden desire to head over to the High Line for a peaceful morning stroll. I am willing to bet that this urge resulted from a recent conversation with some friends about the best places to walk around the Big Apple.

So, do you want to take this walk with me? If you do, please put on your best walking shoes, and let's go!

Upon arriving at the High Line Gansevoort St entrance, we were able to walk straight in because you don't need a ticket to enter during a weekday. So we immediately raced up the stairway gleefully, and once on the top level, we took a few minutes to look at the map to get our bearings and then started walking.

We quickly came upon a lady standing barefoot in some water flowing rapidly to our right, who told us she was trying to cool off. We all laughed, and I thought about joining her because the temperature outside was already over 90 degrees. Yikes!

With that in mind, I figured now would be a good time to grab a couple of cold beverages to stay hydrated, so we stopped at a coffee joint that was about 20 yards away. After picking up two large ice coffees and bottles of water, we went full steam ahead towards the Hudson Yards.

We walked the equivalent of a city block and then agreed to sit down in a bleacher area overlooking 10th Ave. We stayed there chitchatting for about six minutes and then got moving again. There were a fair amount of people out, which was good to see as we continued talking, laughing, and taking pictures as we casually made our way up to 34th St.

Also worth mentioning, there were times during the walk when we both intentionally remained silent and looked around so that we each could fully appreciate the scenery and the moment.

Eventually, we made it to the Hudson Yards area, and when you spotted the red and white Little Spain restaurant sign, you asked if we could go there for lunch, and my response...let's do it!

Well, friends, I have to end it here because I am approaching the character limit for a LinkedIn post. BTW, lunch was outstanding, and afterward, I took you for a tour around the Hudson Yards. Maybe I will share that experience in a future post. 😊

So, what did you think of the High Line? What's your favorite pic?

Until next time, have a lovely evening!

#nyc #mindfulness #motivation

An Impromptu Visit to the Park

The time was 6:14 pm on the last Saturday in June 2021 when I decided to make an impromptu visit to a nearby park to get some fresh air. When I arrived, the immediate sight of the flowers at the northside entrance, combined with a beautiful scent coming from the garden, was reason enough for me to stop and intentionally embrace this moment!

I stood still for the next three minutes, processing what I just experienced, which I can only describe as my five senses colliding with the beauty of nature, gifting me with another magical moment.

Interestingly enough, I had no intentions of posting on LinkedIn today; however, realizing that I just entered into a state of heightened awareness, I knew that my storytelling juices were about to activate, which are hard to resist. As a result, I felt compelled to accept the flash of writing flow that was sure to come and got ready to start capturing my thoughts.

With that in mind, I quickly put on an instrumental playlist and got the volume just right, opened my journal app, and then proceeded to walk towards the area shown in slides 2 and 3, inputting what I was thinking about along the way.

After making my way onto the paved path, I settled on a bench nestled between some bushes and roses (slide 4) that provided a nice view of an open field. I sat there observing several people conversing and having a good time while some guys played soccer in the middle of the field.

What’s more, I happened to know a few of the gentlemen playing, and they kindly asked me to join in the game. Since I am not much of a soccer player, I declined, but after some friendly back and forth exchanges, they persuaded me to participate, and we went on to have a blast!

Once that fun experience was over, I walked a lap around the park to cool off, followed by going back to the bench area to sit down so that I could resume capturing my thoughts.

My attention then quickly shifted to watching and appreciating the blissful look on the faces of the folks in the park as they interacted with each other. It was also great to see couples holding hands and laughing together as they strolled around the park. Love it!

Well, I will end it here and complete the rest of this journal entry on the walk home. Until next time, I wish you peace, love, and a relaxing Sunday.

Let’s go! 😊

#mindfulness #motivation

 

Exercising on the Hudson

After completing work yesterday evening, I went for a stroll alongside the Hudson River as my first move to ease into the weekend. Along the way, I called up a friend that I meant to call earlier in the week to catch up and reconnect in a meaningful way.

I am so glad that I reached out to her because she motivated me to book a trip to an annual conference we usually attend in September, held in Chicago this year.

Chi-Town connections, I look forward to visiting your beautiful city and would love to meet up with some of you while I am there, so please direct message me if you want to link up for a cup of coffee.

Okay, now back to the story.

When I finished the conversation with my dear friend, I took off my AirPods and then began to hear someone shouting workout instructions with uptempo music playing in the background. I immediately knew that a fitness class was taking place and continued walking down the path.

Since I had already got my cardio in for the day, I had no desire to join the group. However, I did like the music playing and the cool vibes they were giving off, so I decided to sit on a nearby bench to enjoy the atmosphere and absorb some of their good energy.

The longer and longer I sat there, watching the instructor lead the class through an intense workout routine, the more and more I wanted to participate. Then, all of a sudden, there was a two-minute break in the action, and when the music resumed, the DJ put on my favorite Alicia Keys and Jay-Z song, and everyone went wild!

At this point, I could feel goose pimples all over my body, and as a result, I just had to join in! The next thing I knew, everyone was singing out loud, "These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, hear it for New York, New York," in perfect harmony.

Shortly after that, I was dripping in sweat, and when the workout was over, you know me, I made a few new friends. Lol!

So as I finish writing this journal entry while walking on the stair stepper on this lovely Saturday morning (slide-9), please pause with me for a moment, close your eyes, and feel the virtual hug that I just sent your way.

Did you feel it?

Friends, I trust you enjoyed our workout session today. I most certainly did and loved spending time with you.

Have a spectacular weekend! 😊

#fitness #motivation #nyc

 

Strolling Around NYC

Note: This post is a continuation of my Saturday, June 19 share, so let's get right to it!

When I got off the train on 14th St, I only needed to walk four blocks to make it to the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers. As I prepared to start walking, I got excited because I knew that I was sure to encounter some pretty cool things wandering around NYC during this time of day, especially now that my hometown is buzzing once again.

To make this stroll a little more interesting, I decided to capture my thoughts along the way to add to my journal.

So, do you want to take this walk with me?

If you answered in the affirmative, grab some popcorn, and then pay close attention as I take you on a fun journey. Let's go!

We are now standing at the corner of 15th St and 8th Ave, near the Google building. Traffic is flowing smoothly, and as we wait for the traffic light to change so that we can walk across the street, we both watch in awe as a woman hails a yellow cab (slide 2), which is a rarity in the city these days due to the impact of Uber and Lyft.

Once the signal light changed, we made our way up the block and soon approached a Starbucks Reserve Roastery (slide 3). Since you've never been to this one before, we went inside to check out the joint and ended up buying two Sparkling Citrus Espressos.

With two long city blocks to go before landing at the driving range, we strolled by Chelsea Market, and there were lots of people having brunch outside literally in the middle of the street. You gotta love it!

After carefully navigating our way up this block without bumping into anyone, we arrived at Pier 59, the Golf Club location (slide 6). Once checked in, we began hitting golf balls towards the Hudson River, AKA, having a good time.

At one point, there was a yacht cruising by that quickly became our new target, and I am convinced that one of my 300-yard drives would have hit the boat if the safety net did not catch it. Lol!

Soon it was time to leave, so we started making our way back to the subway station. We walked by the High Line (slide 8), but we didn't have time to stop. Maybe next time, my friend.

Before I knew it, we were standing on the subway platform waiting for the train. We didn't have to wait too long for the train to arrive, and after we boarded, there were no seats available, so we stood near the double doors. And of course, I used the time on the train finishing up this journal entry that I decided to share with you today—the end.

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. The pleasure was all mine. 😊

Have a lovely Sunday.

#nyc #mindfulness #google

 

Harborside

I was on the move early this Saturday morning, working on getting my weekend errands complete before heading over to the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers for a noon tee time. Since it was only 9 am, I had plenty of time to get things done before I had to jump on the train to Chelsea.

Deliberately changing up my routine a bit today, I decided to visit a couple of stores I seldom go to, so I found myself roaming through the Harborside area. As I made my way around this neat place, I bumped into a sign on the sidewalk that made me smile as soon as I saw it.

As you can see in the first pic, the sign reads, "Your day is waiting." After mentally processing what that message meant to me at this very moment, a feeling of serenity came upon my soul, and just like that, I was fully present and ready to take advantage of the day and all that it had to offer. Let's go!

Instinctively, I began observing my surroundings, and the first thing that I recognized was that there were not many people out. Then, out of nowhere, I felt a strong desire to start capturing my thoughts as everything around me began to slow down. As the need to journal what I was experiencing intensified, I finally found a spot so that I could succumb to this urge and prepared to type out what I was thinking.

Now standing in front of this sky blue bean bag shown in the first picture, I sat down on it, got comfy, and then tapped the play button on my iPhone to listen to some classical music. I gave the fuchsia sign another glance, and seconds later, I had what I wanted to write about framed up in my mind, so let's do it!

My next move was to turn to the left to examine the artificial grass and the bright yellow and blue chairs looking so cute, which you can see in the second slide. Because there were two seats, I couldn't help but imagine you sitting here with me, having a thought-provoking conversation.

Once we finished chatting, my attention shifted to a wooden octopus-looking structure that appeared to be a closed-in seating area (slide three, if you're curious), which looked interesting. So, of course, I strolled over to get a closer look and then proceeded to cross the street, displayed in slide four.

While making my way over to the other side, I avoided a lady wearing some cool-looking jeans speed walking and talking on her speakerphone at the same time. Lol!

After arriving on the other side of the street safely, I grabbed a seat underneath one of the yellow umbrellas and took in a little sun. I sat at the table for a few minutes composing this journal entry, and once complete, I headed straight to Chelsea Piers to have some fun.

Before leaving, I shared this experience 45 minutes earlier than my customary 11 am Saturday post due to my noon tee time. As always, thank you so much for reading my content, and I look forward to engaging with you periodically throughout the day.

Have a fun weekend! 😊

#mindfulness #nyc #motivation