Raw Writing 21
Prompt: the sights, sounds and smells of when I felt truly joyful, 10 min
This is the last raw writing post I’m going to share for a while. Not because I’m writing less, simply because I want to take a break. I’ll still post my weekly personal essay on Wednesdays.
This morning I facilitated another Writers Collective of Canada workshop in the Expanding Capacity for Joy series. We wrote for 10 minutes about a time when we felt joyful. I wrote about my very first visit to New York City. I fell in love with everything about it including the noise, the smells, the crowds, the sights.
Here is my raw, unedited piece from this morning:
I’d been walking down the crowded sidewalk for approximately forever. My feet protested and I wished I had purchased a hop on hop off bus ticket. I wanted to see as much as I possibly could before heading to the airport for my five pm flight home. My backpack was beginning to weigh a ton but I ignored it as I took another bite of the cream cheese bagel I’d picked up at the corner stand. In my other hand I held my lukewarm coffee. It was the best breakfast I’d ever had. The skyscrapers loomed like mountains. Somewhere high above I knew the sun must be rising because the sky was slowly brightening. In my excitement I’d woken up too early and taken the train all the way to the end of the line and began walking uptown, recognizing some infamous landmarks. Warm air blew out of the vents in the sidewalks. Locals rushed by in their runners, not waiting for the crosswalk lights to change colours. I smiled to myself at how obvious the rest of us were as tourists. I must be there by now, I don’t think I’ve taken any wrong turns. Finally, I decided to ask someone standing on the corner with brochures in their hand. “Pardon me, will I know Times Square when I get there?” “You’re here,” he chuckled and I looked around. “Oh! It’s not a square at all!”
Have you ever been to NYC? What was your favourite part about it?