going to jits really does fundamentally ground me. there’s something about this particular physical activity, this moving meditation and 4 dimensional kinetic chess match that touches something fundamental in me. the strange part of it is, that this part of myself isn’t an ugly part, or an aggressive part, or even a fundamentally violent force.
when i hit the zone, i’m so calm. i’m so grounded in the placement of my limbs and in how my body moves and how my opponent’s body moves that the world reduces. i need that. my mood is determined by it. jiu jitsu is religion and crack all rolled into one.
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one of my favorite reasons for living in new york city is actually giving me the fucking scares. everywhere i go, wlaking down the street, the shit i overhear is always hilarious and poignant and somewhat interesting. snatches of conversation are always great places to start poems.
but recently, i hear so many snatches about the shitty economy and about things tanking and about sacrafices needing to be made. it’s horribly depressing. everyone in the city is so worried, rightfully so. a huge chunk of the city’s economy and finances are based on the financial sector, and the financial sector has the largest multiplier effect in the city. with the FIRE industries tanking, the city on some level tanks.
but even as this gives me the willies, i am heartened. because this is new york city, and there’s something amazing about the fact that everyone is so willing and ready to deal. to face reality and to understand that when the fecal matter hits the rotary impeller, things need to be done. if any place in the world is ready, and no place really is, new york is ready for the worst. because new york is the greatest city in the world. its people are well informed, well educated and tuned in. its people love it. i love it.
take that paris. london. tokyo. shanghai. beijing. dubai.