In case you haven't noticed yet, it has been getting pretty cold these days, and the Sun has been setting pretty early, making it dark longer. Makes sense- its winter. Sadly, this natural change of weather has also meant that my ability to go out and interact with the people of Chicago has lessened. Taking the CTA is not the warmest way to travel, especially not if you have a lot of walking to do in between or if you have to transfer a few times. Despite this, during my winter break, I made a commitment to trying to take the train or bus everywhere I went. Of course, this commitment was limited by time (since my parents didn't want me out on the CTA after it got dark) and weather conditions (my parents insisted I layer up and even then, preferred to give me rides when it was too cold). Yet, I did manage to ride it quite a few times, more than I am accustomed to during the winter. In fact, I started the new year by riding both the bus and the train! It was weird because of how empty the city seemed to be. I guess it must have had something to do with Chicagoans and their visitors celebrating the change from 2014 to 2015 and needing their sleep the next day. I, unlike most of the city, was up at 8 am and after getting some coffee, hopped onto a bus at 9am that would take me to the nearest train stop– the Paulina Brown line. The streets were completely deserted. I saw only a couple dozen cars moving through the streets and spotted less than 13 people walking around or on the CTA. On the train cart, there were only three other people, all of which were asleep or falling asleep.
Riding the CTA on January 1st was by far, the strangest experience I have had with this city and the people. I felt like I could have yelled at the top of my lungs while waiting for the train on the platform, and would have heard the echo bouncing off the whole city with no one so much as stirring in their sleep at the oddity but the leaves that blew, pushed by the chilly January wind. The city felt abandoned, but that was oddly nice. Throughout this whole experiment of mine, I have been pushing the question, why do we refuse to interact with one another? and pushing the idea that we must constantly, as mutual inhabitants of this large city, acknowledge one another and interact. I think I might have been wrong. I'm not saying I don't still wonder this and think we should make an effort to occasionally get to know one another, but I think my focus should have been more on how aware are we of our surroundings? In the strange stillness that was January 1st, I felt far more in touch with the city that I ever had. It was nice. I sat and simply looked out to the city streets as they passed by and acknowledged the beauty of it all, the quietness. I think it is something city-dwellers rarely do. We don't stop and observe because we are often thinking about a timeline, where we must be, what hasn't been done, what needs to be done, etc. I've come to the conclusion that sometimes, silence is needed and it should be entirely appreciated as a welcome pause from the noise of busy and must-do's that are our daily lives, that provides us with the chance to simply be and see.
Heres a little video i made out of boredom that morning while I waited.....
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