recently i trained up to central park. i woke up that morning questioning my move, questioning my choices, questioning how this all came to be— so i went to the park. i hadn’t seen this place in january for a long time. the air stung my face. i cradled my arms tightly against the wool of my coat. i have never been a person who has appreciates winter. my mind loves wandering to warm days, where your skin is sticky and tan. sugary kisses between licks of ice cream. eyes squinting from the sun as the hours feel like they might never end ever end- but right now, my body craved the cold. i follow the path around the lake. rowboats benevolently resting along its shore. there was something mystical in the grays and browns that painted the bare trees and sky. i sat down on a bench. a pocket of stillness feeling rare in this city. the landscape sleeping, waiting for what is next. i was getting very cold. my toes tingled inside my boots. the air feeling more rigid and wind sharp on my legs. it was painful. I should get up, get on the subway, go back home. but what i have learned from pain- it does have the power to make you feel most alive. and by facing it, by witnessing it, it gradually it grows to something even more living more colorful. the winter will always fade. #wordsbyme