Of Benches
Moments after walking out of that building, that building with the dull, repetitive structure, you can only wish that your mind takes a small breather. Hope that it takes a break from the countless papers that you had just brushed over with a fine-tip comb. Let’s not forget to mention the, to say the least, freak show that sits behind you in class. As you walk out the fingerprinted glass doors into the brisk October air you eyes come to a bench, a bench you haven’t ever noticed before. The bench seems uncomfortable, kind of damp, yet a perfect place for your body and brain to take a well deserved break. Before you even sit down you take a close look at the bench, analyzing it already. You see the initials KH, a small heart and then BG. You instantly start thinking about the lives and stories of people who have sat here before you. Things take a drastic change for the worse, you anticipated to sit down and take a mental break, and you soon have hundreds of thoughts running through your already stressed out head.
Sitting on the “uncomfortable” bench you start to notice things you never would notice before. You stare right in front of you and see maybe the single most beautiful tree you have ever seen, surrounded by hundreds of equally magnificent structure and color. These trees that you gaze upon, seem to be drawn from scratch and painted in the most prestigious of art studios. The trees overflow with the brightest yellow, and the most extravagant red you have ever seen. You cannot seem break your concentration of the tree in front of you, you have a hard time believing that anything this gorgeous could of just grown here by chance. You refuse to believe this, the tree right in front of you seems to be placed perfectly between the two bridges on either side, the cracked sidewalk lay right in front, the bench just to the right of it. This serene scene has been there every single day for five years and for some reason, you continually walk on by every single day, unaware. Sitting for a couple of moments longer you watch as couple walks by slowly holding hands. The man wearing a bulky gray sweatshirt and a backwards cubs hat, the woman struggling for warmth close in his arms. Obviously these two are completely content together, laughing and looking each other straight in the eye. You watch them for about two minuets as they slowly walk around the bend to your right. You soon decided you enjoy the way this bench makes you feel. This bench that you deemed uncomfortable from the start seems to do exactly the opposite, makes you feel warm and appreciative inside.
Getting up from this first bench you seem to follow the steps of the couple that you witnessed moments ago, you go around the bend, heading further into the bustling city. Your ability to notice your surroundings seem to slowly fade away, they fade into the normal blackberry and egoistic state of mind. While walking down the sidewalk you stumble upon the uneven sidewalk; three on lookers giggle. This adds to the already abundant stress and anxiety. When you arrive downtown, among the giants of buildings you see a well-put together concrete bench, which looks a hell of a lot better than the last one. This boring stone colored bench is placed between two shinny black newspaper pick-ups. You take a seat on this concrete bench, it’s cold at first but after a minute or two it’s very comfortable. Looking off into the distance you start looking at everything, just as you had when sitting at the bench before. This bench seems different. This one seems to be thrown in place, no order, and no elegance. You resort to looking at the countless of different people, which the other bench lacked. These people run around like small fury animals, running around so mindless that don’t even notice you sitting three feet from them. Most of them nose buried in some electronic device, or in too much of a rush to even look up off the ground. You start to realize the power of these benches. The power invested in these benches, the whole world slow for occupant its gives you the ability to sit and actually understand the beauty of everything around you. You soon realize that this was once you; this was you not only a couple of hours ago. This was you nose deep in your phone, running through your day scared to death that your deadline wont be reached, unaware of the absolute bliss all around you at all times. You start to again look at the people, you take many mental notes, as the whole world is slower. You conclude at the end of this sitting, that people gather in groups, groups seem to dress and act the same. The groups seem to be every exclusive, they are not very accepting to others different from them nor other groups. You take note of a few that seem to look all around, seem to be aware of everything. The longer you sit the more you understand that you want to change, you no longer want to be a mindless wander, looking straight at the ground, but a fully aware human. There seems to be some irony occurring with this situation, the uncomfortable tight-knotted cedar bench gives you the warm, loving feeling. While the comfortable concreted bench makes you doubt human nature as a whole.
Walking away from that bench you have a very uneasy feeling, an uneasy feeling about anything, because you can feel yourself slip into the non-thinking going through the motions person that you started with. Then something hits you, imagine a black and white picture turning to color. You walk right by that rusted, tight-knotted, old damp bench, looking into the forever garden of yellows, reds, and oranges. Your circular journey as brought you back to where you started. You take one last look at this picturesque scene, then you close your eyes sit back for a second. You reflect on the fact that you took a ten-minute journey that seemed to take a lifetime. You realize what it really means to sit down and take a closer look into everything happening around you. It is amazing the life lessons learned from bench, the most unlikely of teachers. You stand up to leave this new teacher of yours, glancing behind you to see one more of the frazzled human beings sitting down into that ugly, damp cedar bench hoping for a break. You respond with a slight smile, realizing that the bench will keep on giving. Realizing that you are one of few to receive this lesson. You turn your head and continue on your journey with your eyes up and taking notes on everything you have missed before.
