Day 97

How can you make the stress of your problems just went away?

To find the beauty of my current life instead of focusing on my past, I was finally asymptomatic.

After coming home from a city I didn't recognize, I barely cared about my losses of Albany that much anymore. And while the main issue of ruminating on the past was basically cured, the symptom of needing a replacement remained. Even though I wasn't missing much, I also wasn't really doing anything better than 2 day trips in the city. I wasn't really seeing the beauty in life. So of course the only remedy for this symptom was another day trip in the city. The only issue was finding somewhere to see this beauty.

On my next visit, I blindly said "Screw it" and played a game of train roulette. I would ride a random train in one direction until I felt the urge to get off. There was no criteria really; if too many people got off, if I felt like taking another train because I liked that train's number a bit better than the one I was on, or if I got sat next to someone I didn't feel like sitting next to then it was onto the next train. Whenever I had enough, I would just find the nearest thing and pray for the best. And then I ended up in Brooklyn.
After wandering, I was about to give up when I came across Brooklyn Botanical Garden, took a leap of faith and purchased a ticket.

My expectations were low going into everything. As I progressed through the map though, my expectations were yet again wrong. The assortment of botany was like eye-candy. All sorts of different shapes, colors, and sceneries were like something you'd find in a google search. Every time I would turn, I would face the most beautiful sight I had seen all year. And the entire garden was like this. 52 acres of the most textbook nature was all around me, and no experience I had could compare to what I had in the moment.
By the end of the day, I still didn't get to see every inch of the garden, but I felt that I got more than what I payed for. The entire experience gave me much needed tranquility, just made me stop and appreciate the beauty in front of me.

On the ride home, I was approached for yet another blind date, meeting at the Mexican Independence
Day Parade. She was actually a performer in the parade and invited me to meet at the afterparty. While I am Mexican, I'm probably the most culturally oblivious person to attend a Mexican afterparty. My only redeeming cultural quality is my Spanish. At least I'd be able to say hello without trying to play charades. Despite the auxiliary of red flags, I went anyways, pushing my luck from playing train roulette for the day.

Upon getting there, the parade began and it was a fun, upbeat event. The experience was more educational than anything. Seeing all the forms of Mexican history was very exposing. After a while, I spot her and follow her group down the street until the endpoint. We hit it off quick and eventually made our way to the afterparty, with her family as guests. It was a pretty fun experience, we had a lot in common above our culture [not that I could relate much]. Her parents weren't that approving though. When asked to dance, I failed miserably. As if my mobility issues could help me dance, let alone run on the way to the parade pitstop to begin with. Coupled with the fact that I knew no Mexican dances, I should've just feigned a medical emergency or something to avoid leaving my chair. The worst part was their denial - her parents thought I was lying about my Mexican heritage, even after stating the municipal where each of my parents were from, showing them pictures of my vacation there, they even believed I didn't "look" Asian enough. I don't blame them on the last part - its a very common misconception. But everything else just gave them a very strong impression. In the end, this girl and I had great chemistry, but her parental approval wasn't meant to be. I left the afterparty early but still felt amazing. So much better than any first impression I've ever made with my Albany college friends, another really beautiful experience. When I realized this,
there was only one word to describe the feeling of finding the beauty of life. Asymptomatic.