I freaking love this place

I freaking love this place. Why? Because, first off, today is beautiful. It’s probably 50 degrees out, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. So, I decided that instead of running in the dimly lit, over-testosteroned, 1/10 mile track, I would take a run outside. I finished my run alongside Morningside Park, where you can see for miles over into East Harlem, which is beautiful. And no, I’m not being sarcastic. It looks something like this:


(I know it's not a great picture, but use your imagination)

I vividly remember a conversation (well, more like a question and an answer) I had with my best friend Yoni a long time ago. I highly doubt he remembers it, but it went something like this:
Me: Do you think, if you took a random sampling of people at any one point in time, most of them would be happy?
Yoni: No

That made me sad. I mean, obviously not everyone should be ecstatic at every moment in time. But, if any single person took a collective survey of their life, I’d bet that they could find more things to be happy about than to be sad about. Now, I know that I’m sounding like a blind-eyed optimist, but I’m serious. The reason that this sounds so ridiculous is because most of the things that could go in the “beautiful” or “happy” category are never recognized. No one really takes the time to think about how beautiful the shadow of a tree on a sidewalk can be, or how nice the sound of a bird somewhere up in that tree is.

And that made me realize something important. When you see something beautiful, you have to share it with as many people as possible. I think that that’s why the world needs artists. Artists capture those beautiful moments and spread their beauty. They help people tip their scales a little more towards happy, or at least a little bit away from sad. That's why I love this place so much--becausr it provides this little glimpes of beauty that can brighten up my entire day.

That’s why to so many people, I think, modern art is so disappointing. People have to be told “That’s art.” The person is left to ponder the beauty, and has to stretch their own idea of beauty to accommodate this new “art.” The viewer is left with the feeling "Well, I guess this is art," instead of a feeling of admiration for what should be something beautiful. Overall, I think modern art leaves most viewer’s unfulfilled. I don’t know why we insist on shying away from natural beauty, like in my favorite painting of all time:


(I know that this picture doesn’t do it justice. But you should all go down to the Met to see it for yourselves. It’s also about 4’ x 6’ so there are a lot of minute details that you can’t see in this picture)

I hope that in my life, I can help others see beauty in places in their lives they wouldn’t normally find it. If someone can walk out of their house in the morning, and not think about how depressing it is that they have to go to classes or meetings all day, but think just for one second about how amazing it is that they have the opportunity to experience so much, or that they have the money to have a house, or that they can see the shades of pink, purple, and green of an amazing sunset, then I think I will have accomplished my goal, the same goal that Monet, Mozart, and Joyce shared. Or rather, I’ve accomplished my goal as just another person perpetuating beauty to be perpetuated by another person, for another person…