The Beginning
From the time I woke up in the morning, everything was perfectly aligned. I was compelled to visit Echo Park for the day, to visit a Stationery store, The Social Type, and receive Creative Inspiration for a Self-Designed Pole Journal I’ve been working on.
Amidst my adventurous spirit, I still questioned my unusual inclination to visit Echo Park. It was a bit out of the ordinary for me. Although I enjoy the quirky little shops in the area, the neighborhood itself feels like a No-Man’s Land. Hot, dusty, deserted, and full of Hipster.
Feeling completely displaced from my NYC habitat, and swearing that the soulless vibe of the neighborhood is testament to those area-dwellers…I had to switch gears and remain focused when I off-boarded my 2-hour Metro trip into town from the Valley. There was much treasure to uncover underneath the surface, and I had to remain open-hearted.
As I embarked on my journey, the heavy laptop in my backpack weighed in-a persistent reminder of the amount ofwerk I had to do.
I had it all figured out. I would visit the Stationery Shoppe, eat my home-cooked lunch, and werk at my laptop for the last few hours of my day before heading home on the Metro precisely at 8pm. It is so that–at no additional cost to my wallet– my buns can at least enjoy a day somewhere other on my mildly uncomfortable wooden living room chairs, toiling away at the tedium of marketing my film to Universities around the world.
If I’m going to be disciplined in my hustle, I need to have luxury.
Even if I try to resist my inclination towards luxury, my Spirit insists.
And so it was. That from the time I exited the Bus in Echo Park, my day also went nothing like I had planned. By 2pm, I found my legs propped up inside a very large patio booth of my favourite local restaurant, nomming an entire Vegan Pepperoni Pizza Pie, and ensuring that my house-made Ginger Beer was served without Ice, plz.
How ya doing? My friendly waiter asked upon seeing my empty Pizza Pan.
“I feel like a Princess,” I said, before handing him a proudly-tipped cheque, drawing my favourite Cat symbol in the white space. ^-_-^
And then I began to Werk.
I werked my project with diligence and thoroughness. But alas, my day had started later than expected. Once 5pm hit, the restaurant grew louder and busier and less laptop-friendly by the moment. I was swimming upstream in raging waters, my quiet worries creeping up from behind. I had created an 8-week plan, and I was starting off too slowly. My self-imposed deadlines were at risk for falling through, which affects my money flow, which affects…
I continued werking.
But within a few more minutes, I was running out of steam, eyes slowly straining at the computer. My body forced to sit in its upright position at the countertop of the cafe where I had moved to accommodate a reservation. My wheels were fast-coming to a screeching halt without my mental permission. And my inner-rebellious teenager spoke loudly.
“I’m an Artist. I wanna go to the Park and DANCE!”
I turned the volume down a few notches on my intuition. I just wanted to push myself to finish the werk I came all the way here to do. I could not afford to go home empty-handed, overloaded with werk for the next day.
Two minutes later, I had reached my limit. As if Spirit momentarily took control of my over-typed fingers, I closed all of my tabs and windows, and shut down my computer without even thinking about it. That is when I left the restaurant and walked to Echo Park.
