My Soul Has Often Found Relief

I learned when I moved to Miami that I needed places to go that were soothing, rejuvenating, and peaceful when I couldn't go to the temple. It wasn't hard to figure out--Miami is paradise with mosquitoes and I'm such a sucker for the ocean. Coconut Grove and those banyan trees, Biscayne National Park, Marco Island, and anything involving the Keys. 

It's been harder for me to find a happy place here. "Crowded" means something different to me now and I realize that people here find solace in the midst of sirens, garbage, honking horns and hordes of lost tourists. I've wanted to grab people who look like they've found their center and shake them, "How on earth can you smile like that in the middle of all this??" 

I don't want to sound like a total curmudgeon, so I'll stop ranting and announce that I've found a few place that really reset my soul, especially while we're technically homeless and the temple is being cleaned. 

MoMA!!! How I developed a taste for modern art is puzzling, but I'm gonna run with it. And seeing it in person is way, way different than seeing it in a book or something. There is a lot of energy coming out of those paintings and I know I sounds crazy but I'm not making this up. The effort and intent and talent is very apparent when you look at it from a few feet away. 



I used to make fun of Jackson Pollock. Now I love him. I'm sorry, Jackson. I felt like this thing was going to start moving and snatch me out of the gallery.

Pretty much sums up my life. Also, this is HUGE, like the size of  double doors. 

Let's not forget why people shy away from modern art--because someone paints a stick red, nails it to a wall and we're all supposed to swoon? As if! (Clueless reference. I need my brother here to back me up on this one.)
(Don't judge me for making a Clueless reference.)

Yoko Ono occupied an entire floor of the museum. Embarrassingly, I only knew her as John Lennon's sad widow and not as an artist. Most of her stuff didn't really speak to me, but I like this staircase that allowed one person at a time to look into the sky. It was cool, but they forgot to mention that the staircase sways and wobbles at the top, which explains why everyone coming down looked a bit pasty.

The view from John Lennon's sad widow's staircase.

Why do I love Picasso so much?! I felt like this one was just for me. A girl looks into a mirror and sees a different version of herself. I could hear myself writing a speech in my head to my girls about that sad girl in the mirror. Maybe I need a print of this in my house. MoMA has a pretty extensive Picasso collection.

Everyone loves The Starry Night, and it is quite stunning. Also highly entertaining was this frustrated museum guard that had to keep telling people to not touch The Starry Night.



Andy Warhol's soup cans were exciting (sort of), and so was this woman taking a selfie with the soup cans. Jacob and I have started a really unfortunate hobby of taking pictures of people taking selfies. I'm not anti-selfie, there is just an overabundance of people--usually young women--posing for themselves and cheesing in front of their phone. I feel like I'm digging a hole so ima stop now. 



Art collections are all nice and good, but who can randomly spend time in museums, just for the sake of sanity? Since we're staying in Harlem, I hopped south a bit to check out the trails in Riverside Park. LOVE. I even found this sweet bike trail on the Hudson River. Central Park is really nice and parts of it are must-see places if you visit. Riverside serves a different purpose, like if you need to relax in a beautiful place. 


Did you know that New York City has Civil War history?  Me neither. File that under "Carrie's Pile of Ignorance",  a growing fund of knowledge that I should have known by now. This is Sailors and Soldiers Monument, built on some steps of an actual war site. And right in the middle of Riverside Park, which is right in my favorite part of Manhattan (the Upper West Side), where I will never be able to afford to live. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
I also absolutely love modern art, among other periods of art--of course. I do not envy you living in New York, but I wish I had access to those museums!! I probably spent 100 hours--not an exaggeration--in the art museums in Baltimore and DC over the two years I lived there.
August 2, 2015 at 3:12 PM
Unknown said…
I'm glad I'm not alone! It's like watching a live musical performance. The experience can't be duplicated effectively. Or something.
August 5, 2015 at 6:03 PM
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