My family and I recently ventured into Central Park to enjoy a beautiful Spring day. Even after living in New Jersey for years now, we still find ourselves attracted to the city’s energy. We only live 35 minutes by train, but it feels like a world away and it’s nice to walk around and see the boys fall back into the flow of the city that influenced them so much at a young age.
I couldn’t help but remember the many times we ventured into the park when they were little, a place where we used to entertain the hours of our days. When I started this blog as NYCity Mama it was all I ever did with them, just go out and explore. There are times, like this particular one, when I miss those days because the kids were smaller, because everything seemed so much easier, because it felt like it was just us in this big ol’ world. My mind raced back to images of those days and to see how fast fast they have grown makes my heart hurt.
I think we spend a lot of our days and time thinking about something better, greener grass somewhere, better places, a better life. We often are pushed by the aspiration and hope that there is more to this, to what we have.
I encourage you to take a moment and appreciate your here and now. My kids help me do this almost every day. They certainly helped me appreciate my own city in ways I never did growing up here.
I’ve scaled these rocks so many times before, but it wasn’t till my youngest said, “This is so beautiful,” that I am reminded of how true that statement was.
So, on this particular day, just as they do on almost every day I do anything with them, they helped me to embrace everything around me even though I have been in this very spot a hundred times before, through the excitement in their eyes it always feels like something new. Sometimes we don’t have that someone to help us through the process, and if that’s the case for you, I hope this post serves as a reminder to slow down, look around, and smile.
Hope you enjoy the images from our day.
Bill Koller
Great Images of Central Park. Thanks Carol.
caincarol
Bill Koller@Bill Koller: Thanks Bill!