I drive a lot in NYC and it is hands down the most stressful part of my
day. Though I wake up extra early each morning to meditate, I still feel overwhelmed and anxious when entrenched in the the frenzy of traffic.
One night when I was returning from work, I found myself frantically
stuck for what felt like forever on the BQE. As I sat there alone in my car angry and eager (I’m guessing like everyone else around me), I took a
deep breath and searched for a way out. I was desperate once again for reprieve. I began to notice all of these empty billboards alongside the expressway and took the opportunity to repurpose them, if only for myself. They are a blank canvas, an empty page, a place to rest my eyes and nerves or to conceive of a new painting. I now use these ghostly tablets as a meditation focal point when jammed in traffic which happens to be all of the time. Lucky for me, they seem to be everywhere.
The billboards are also a lingering remnant from our recent past. I’m guessing ten years from now there won’t be any. I’ve come to feel almost sentimental about them, knowing they will soon be gone.
I once overheard someone say it is too stressful to nap in New York because they always felt like they were burnin’ daylight. I get that. Truth be told, getting on the expressway in order to slow down is probably good for me:
at least that is what I keep telling myself.
