guest post from abby of dear abby leigh

Today’s guest post comes from my friend Abby Barnhart, gifted writer, dreamer and people-connector, who shares her poetic observations over at Dear Abby Leigh. Today I’m flying to NYC for my first trip ever (AHHH!!), and Abby & her husband Luke are taking a bus into the city to meet us on Friday. Her post is making me *that* much more excited about exploring this amazing city for the first time! Be sure to keep up with me on Twitter and Instagram for some fun along the way! Happy Thursday y’all!

excerpt from robert clairmont’s “TALL BUILDINGS IN FOUR O’CLOCK STREETS“

i’m endlessly inspired by central park,
a pocket of peace and natural beauty tucked among the steel, sky-scraping giants of new york city.

right now, it’s so close i can feel the breeze and bustle.
tomorrow, luke and i will hop a bus to visit allie and will for an empire city double date!

but even when the city is no where in sight, central park springs to my mind when i read of stark juxtapositions: the tensions between nature and industry, internal struggles to balance heart and head desires, the pull of the future versus ties to one’s past. the list goes on and on and on! like this gem from our buddy hd thoreau:

“i found in myself, and still find, an instinct toward a higher, or, as it is named, spiritual life, as do most men, and another toward a more primitive rank and savage one, and i reverence them both. i love the wild not less than the good.”
henry david thoreau

***

i find the wild vs. the good such a fascinating comparison. in this snippet of walden, it is obvious that thoreau finds the savage within himself evil, but it begs the question: can the wild be just as good as the higher life he seeks?

it’s tough to see the streets of new york meet the beauty of the park and not find the wild more enriching and even spiritual than the city itself. human community, too, seems to thrive in the oasis of nature, which i hope to prove to allie tomorrow on our visit!

so what do you think?
have you ever been to central park?
do you ever SEE places come to life when reading something unrelated?
i’m just spit-ballin’ here, but i’d love to know what crazy conclusions you take from this eden in the city!

*i also must recommend the book the devil in the white city which is mostly about chicago but highlights the landscape architect frederick olmsted who also developed central park. it’s truly an amazing feat to have preserved such open (and free!) space on such high dollar real estate.