This morning I woke up and rode at 5:45 with the team in Prospect Park. This week was a little different – as the team leader, Felix, was back from his cold that kept him home last week. What a difference a team leader makes! From the start he paid close attention to the condition of my bike (not so good) to my form, ability and cohesion with the team (better!). Throughout the ride we received tips and advice and there was a fluidity that I had yet to experience in a ride ever. He did put me out front for quite a while so I think I may have had a bit more of an intense workout than I bargained for, but I am definitely not complaining. It was pretty awesome actually.
While I rode my mind wandered a little, which is good and bad. Good because I had a chance to think, which I don’t do nearly enough of in my busy life these days. Bad because riding in a tight pack takes attention and a lot of care, as well as awareness of the environment around you. Funny then, that it was on these ideas that my mind wandered.
Cooperation and cohesion is such a huge aspect in so many different aspects of my life. I find that there is more peace to be found in this kind of living then any other, at least for me. It takes shape in so many different ways as well – people naturally adapting to the world around them and to the people within it. I find it more so in New York though then in any other place I’ve lived. Perhaps it’s because there are so many of us sharing cramped and stuffy spaces in so many instances during the day.
There is a beauty to it though that I am just starting to appreciate. The way that people flow in crowds here, the accelerated pace is there, but within it there is almost always a sense of coaction. Last night leaving Shea Stadium I was amazed at the level of consideration that was allotted all around me. Police stepped back and stayed uninvolved while people, even those that had clearly consumed a little too much alcohol, managed to work together to get where we all needed to go. With so many people and small spaces it seems that chaos is just a breath away at any moment, yet somehow, most of the time it is avoided and we find some harmony.
If this can be possible in a city this big and complex, peppered with obstacles of time and space and inconvenience, then I think it says something for us as people in general.There is a lesson to be learned from the fact that most of us default to a level of togetherness and consideration. I mentioned in a blog post a while back that when one person performs a generous act the attitude seems infectious. I see that now more and more often and I feel that the knowledge empowers me. Could I be a catalyst in this kind of behavior? What difference could it make to at least try?
When I pedal a little harder and let someone draft off my wheel there is a tremendous feeling of unity, that a single person can use energy to assist a huge group of others. In this case the challenge is climbing a hill, but to how many other scenarios could the same ideals be applied?
When I first arrived in New York much of my focus was on how much I could do alone and how self sufficient I could become. I am pretty secure in the fact that I can do much of what I need to survive all on my own. But to enjoy life? To really thrive? I think I prefer to draft a little from time to time. And I enjoy equally the satisfaction of letting others do the same with me.
“there is a tremendous feeling of unity, that a single person can use energy to assist a huge group of others.”
Really awesome, Jill. You’re such an amazing writer.
These are the kinds of concepts we’re exploring in my community organizing class. Just read a chapter in Chambers’ “Roots for Radicals” talking about the tension that exists between the ‘world as it is’ and the ‘world as it should be’, and how it’s that space in between the worlds that moves us toward action.
I’m headed to the Brooklyn public library this weekend and your book is on my list. I get more and more into these concepts each day.
Thanks Jeni!