The Filmstrip

I am among the small population of the New York society that enjoys riding public transportation, specifically the subway.

Riding the subway in New York is meditation for me. It has a smooth rockabye baby effect it has on me. The screeching sounds of the breaks, the rattling noise of the metal as it twists and turns all become my Zen. When I board the train and find my place, amongst the often times masses, I begin to enter my relaxation mode. This can happen either standing or sitting. My body and mind immediately goes into a sleep mode, like a computer. My muscles begin to relax and my mind starts to wander. At times I try to read a book or magazine but nothing seems to break this cycle. I eventually close my eyes and begin to fall into my comfort zone. I feel like an infant child that has been rocked to sleep by her mother.

The subway train cart is just the right size, 67x10x12.08 and with 8 doors.  It's not too small to where I feel like I have people sitting on top of me and it's not too big that when I do enter my zone I feel ridiculous and stand out. These moments that I have on the subway vary in times and days. The most popular times are early in the mornings and right after work. Both times I am more relaxed and easy to fall asleep. However, there are some moments when my body and mind are fully awake and aware of my surroundings. This is when the filmstrip appears.

There is a 30 second window in a train ride when  two trains will run side by side with a small wall that has open window like views in them. The trains don't necessarily run completely in sync. One may be 10 seconds ahead of the other. Those 30 seconds underground when the two trains are riding together is when all the magic happens. As I look into the opposite train I feel like someone has opened a window into a part of the world that I'm not supposed to see. In a very fast like lightning pace I see many different faces brown, white, black, and yellow faces. All with different expressions and having very different stories and going to different places. But the way the trains move and the windows overlapping it creates a filmstrip effect. So everyone is in one big story line.

In the morning I see several people reading newspaper and sipping coffee. Scenes of people having conversations, laughing about what happened the night before. Couples kiss and hug to go their separate ways. There are even the occasional bum. The story continues for 30 seconds then its gone. I am left waiting for the next one to play.

This may seem very small to most people but I try to enjoy the world in front of me, in every way that I can. So if it's 30 seconds of tiny glimpse into the life of someone else then that's fine of me.