Morning in New York City (or: Change)

So right after finishing writing the previous blog entry, Jeroen and myself went to this diner, called Manhattan Diner, right across the street from the hotel. It’s amazing how rushed and fast life is here. Everything’s so quick. All done in haste, as if someone’s up there waiting with a stopwatch for you to finish your earthly duty.

After breakfast, Jeroen and myself went different ways. He went to Brooklyn, I decided to walk downtown.

Very busy city. Can’t believe that some people are insane enough to drive in here.

Tried to find a coffee place, but all I saw was Starbucks in pretty much each and every block (I was walking down Broadway). Went into Best Buy, looking for a carrying kit for my GPS, only to realize their selection is rather dull.

I then decided to walk into Rudy’s Music Stop. I met Rudy yesterday at the meet and greet - very nice person, however it turned out that he could barely recall he met me. Not surprising considering the fact that he meets so many people every day. I asked him about a guitar I’d like him to build for me, a replica of the one Mark Knopfler played in “A Night in London” in 1996 (played “Sultans of Swing” with it - the version with the unforgettable, and never played thereafter, interlude). He mentioned the price of $7,995 and the payment terms, and then suggested that I meet him upstairs for a demonstration of how he builds his guitars and other interesting things.

I went upstairs, waited for about 20 minutes but he never showed up. I asked the attendant there to tell Rudy that I was waiting, so he doesn’t get the impression that I just walked away. Rudy must be an extremely busy person. Anyway, it was nice being there. I guess I’ll have to postpone my Pensa plans.

What a crazy city. Now, just for background, I did live and grow up in a crowded city. I was born and raised in a city neighbouring Tel-Aviv, and I have some experience of the Tel-Aviv life. Not as crazy as New-York, but pretty high up there. That was one of the reasons why I left Israel - to escape the rush. I wanted peace and quiet. And once you experience peace & quiet for a few years, you just can’t go back to life in the fast lane.

Yet, it’s nice to experience this kind of life every once in a while. Makes me appreciate the life I have back in Waterloo.

Ever felt like you need to escape of your daily routine, that you need to “see things from a different perspective”? It’s a really interesting phenomenon. Why is it that a person needs to get out from a certain “system” in order to “see things from a different perspective”, even if his life is good and comfortable where he is? I have no reason to complain about my daily life back in Waterloo, yet I often feel the need to just get away from it all.

I thought about it a lot and also did some research. The answer became very clear after I read one of the most fascinating books I have ever read, called “Change; Principles of Problem Formation and Problem Resolution” by Paul Watzlawick, Ph.D, John Weakland, Ch.E and Richard Fisch, M.D.

One of the symptoms of living a routine is that our values, and the way we appreciate things, are adjusted to reflect that routine. A person who is born poor and has to live life of poverty, and a person who is born rich and lives life of luxury, often see things in completely different ways.

Now comes the important point: A system cannot be evaluated and appreciated by terms defined within that system; it can only be evaluated and appreciated by terms external to it.

It turns out that this distinction is as true in life as it is in mathematics (and I will not dwell into the Group Theory and Calculus here). Think about a situation that you have been involved in, or are involved in at the moment, that results in what seems like a “deadlock”. This is often the result of trying to think of a solution to a problem, by looking at the problem-space only and not thinking “outside the box”. This exactly is the topic of that book I mentioned earlier - how to change systems and solve problems that appear to be unchangeable and insolvable. The idea behind it is that certain systems will not change or solve by just introducing a change within the system; there is a need to change something in a higher level, that will cause a change in the nature of the system itself.

I know this may sound a little bizarre; however, from my experience, it is very true.

Very recommended reading. Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Change-Principles-Problem-Formation-Resolution/dp/0393011046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216924643&sr=8-1

So there you go. When you live life in comfort, you sometimes need to get away from it all. Not because you don’t like your life, but merely to re-establish your appreciation of everything. This is true not only for re-appreciating lifestyle; it is also good, in my opinion, in relationships. However that would be a topic for a separate post.

Continuing my exploration of NYC’s streets…

Isaac