March 25, 2003
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Life is Pretty Grand
More so now than ever, I really feel one with the city of Los Angeles, my home. I suppose that’s not too surprising but without getting sentimental, I’ve come to appreciate the grit and beauty of life out here. Unlike the suburbs, I feel that the people I see daily, the cars I see honking, the homeless I see with outstretched cups, and the brown-gray haze that floats on the skyline make for a very authentic existence. I’m sounding like a hokey Thoreau, I know. But whereas he wrote of fleeing to the wilderness untainted, I think the opposite rings true now. I love the outdoors and mountains like you wouldn’t believe (few things I enjoy more than the Pacific Crest) but in the end, it amounts to an escape. Thoreau was concerned with life in its pure essence, apart from man’s expectations and noisy outward collective struggle. A life of pure contemplation divorced from extraneous concerns like the latest fashion trends or the rise/fall of the economy. Life stripped down to its wilderness necessities.
But that isn’t Life. I don’t think it’s possible to know yourself (from the shallow to transcendental) apart from your fellow man. Even in some weird mystical sense, he was wrong to assume that Man’s ultimate pure existence was a solitary one. Maybe we all live lives of quiet desperation. That may be true enough. Still, though we may suffer alone, we live collectively whether we like it or not. And even in the wilderness, civilization doesn’t disappear because we’re constantly struggling to be apart from it and in turn acknowledging it. That’s the easy way to deal with life.
I love Los Angeles for its diversity and richness of activity and life. Unlike the suburbs, that mumbling numbness has yet to take hold of the people here. People are struggling and hoping and striving in such immediate ways and it’s right there in front of your face wherever you go. We’re all crammed together. That’s where you can see and feel Life in all its emotional/physical/spiritual depth because you see it all on crowded streets, the smell of Mexican doughnuts tempting you from panaderias. Run down Pico during the late afternoons and you’ll see. This is where you learn and grow and smile at mom’s pushing kids around the block in shopping carts. Good stuff.
I’m sure the same rings true for New York if not more.
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Backflip! Bruuuuuuuuuuce.
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City: Traffic
Hope smoke floats
Just yea over our heads
Like Big City haze
But prettier
And according to
Most folk,
Good for us.
Shed tears gladly
Water gardens blooming
Prosperity in a world that
Would care
Less.
Groaning beasts sway
Under the horn
Of dawn that cracks
Whips with
Utmost concern.
Big dreams rise
Like skyscrapers
That touch the sky
And kiss the hand
Of God.
Love and feeling
Everything and
All at once.
Matt11:28
Comments (5)
Beautiful blog.
i agree with anika. and just so you know, i am collecting your poems! don’t worry, i give you credit when people read them. you are sublime, kind sir (written at my roomie’s insistence).
BW
You are sublime..and almost annoyingly in constant good cheer.
Is it the LA water? Can you send of that my way? =)
I think it is so true that ”we all live lives of quiet desperation…” always making me think Thoreau, thanks for your thoughts. Congrats again for - you know. You da man Dan. See you this weekend.
Hey Daniel, you wrote up a great piece on L.A. Ess Eff has some of the ‘gritty realism’ that L.A. has, so what you wrote resonates with me. Everyone should live in a ‘city’ city at least once in their life–be it Seattle, Tokyo or Madrid. Much to learn and absorb, even just on the sidewalk of the street where you live. And where else can you perfect your craft of parallel parking?