G-Sync – Creating Space On Your Own

Let’s face it: this week, we are all a little melancholy in our heads.  Sure, we have learned how to hide it as we hastily pack up the car and head for those last guilt free days of summer where being lazy by the beach is okay.

But as the clock ticks, over the seconds we all know the last weekend of summer is winding down before we even turn the ignition key.

As I prepared to embark on this weekend’s long list of summer fun, I stumbled upon an email from a friend who suggested I take a look at a YouTube video she thought I would enjoy.  

Holding my iPhone, I watched the video poem, “How To Be Alone,” unspool, taking in the poets points about the hidden merits of finding space in a busy and plugged-in world.

I was not so sure I wanted to take my phone with me to the beach after this 4 minute, 35 second video finished its last notes.

So I played it again. This time, the music lulled me into to a state of daydreaming as I started to think about the “alone things” I enjoy about our city.  

The restaurants where I am familiar from repeated visits do not always offer the solitude and the personal insights gained from getting off the well-worn path.  I thought of venturing off to some far-off corner of town where I have never been.

Weekly, I visit the downtown library to wander the same sections — which means I am only creating a path of knowledge like an explorer who has traded his uncharted life for that of a trade route, when just a few aisles over awaits a brand new world waiting to be discovered.

Finally, there is the need to sometimes be okay with just wasting time, to leave your watch on the bed stand as you walk, run or pedal to places not yet recorded by your mind.

I want to thank Andrea Dorfman and Tanya Davis for taking some time to produce such a beautiful reminder of why being alone is not a sad state of our affairs, but a chance to be reborn as we remember how to unplug.  

And so this week, it is not so much about what I have discovered and want to share in G-Sync, but what you will discover about your city as you venture on your path.

Enjoy the last big holiday weekend of Summer!

The Future Needs All of Us (to enjoy the silence)

Tommy Allen, Lifestyle Editor

Email:  RapidGSync@gmail.com
Twitter Feed: @TommyGSync

Click here to continue to this week’s G-Sync events.

Photo provided by TanglefootStudio.com and assisted by David Morgenstern (Wine Guru of GR)

Press Releases for upcoming events in the West Michigan area should be sent to TommyRapidG@gmail.com. Please include high res jpg images that are at least 500 pixels wide.