How well do you deal with noise? New York City is an extraordinarily busy place. Depending on where you actually live, it can be extraordinarily noisy too. How each person reacts to this is up to him, but I generally have a low tolerance for noise pollution. It can distract me from my work and thoughts relatively easily. How an you escape and find serenity? Where can you go where you feel like you’re at the center of a vast universe, where your own thoughts reign supreme with no interference?
Central Park is a place you can go to find some contrast with the “concrete jungle.” It’s almost remarkable when you think about it – you can find something close to the wild, with lakes, wooded areas, and now a full-blown nature preserve that just reopened this week after a 15 year renovation. Here you will find wild animals, even including a few red-tailed hawks.
Of course there’s also more “human” areas for relaxation – Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, the baseball fields, Sheep Meadow, and so on. These are the places I usually visit, and often in a high-intensity emotional state, because these areas are the bread and butter of my day game activities.
And yet, there’s one area where you can clear your head – not just of the distractions in New York City, but in the park itself. If you don’t look closely, you might miss it. It’s not easily visible. I stumbled upon it by accident. It’s located between the 72nd and 79th street traverses on the western side of the park, but faces east. You’ll have to venture beyond the blue gazebo, to the rocks, and around the other side.
There you’ll find the place, behind the rocks, right on the lake.
Just sit down on that bench and stare at the trees and the lake. You can see the skyline to the south. Right in the shadow of the imposing midtown skyscrapers, you’re basically at the center of your own world. If you come at the right time, there’s no one else around except the ducks and geese, which will often walk right up to you.
Here you can just get away from it all – the noise, the business, the adrenaline rush that comes from your approaches. Here you’re basically the king of your own world, with enough room to let your imagination run wild in peace, with no worries or cares, and calm solitude. One can feel like the lord of Mycenae – perhaps Agamemnon, in the 13th century B.C., staring out from his throne room at the vast, comforting plain of the Argolid below.
The analogy is timely, because I began Michael Wood’s In Search of the Trojan War
at this spot, after a dearth of not coming to it due to winter.
This place isn’t just a great spot to read without distractions, though. A few posts on the Masculine Epic had their beginnings in it. I also finalized a few details for Stumped here, which has nothing to do with this post, but you should still read it if you want to take your game to the next level (it includes dozens of actionable, specific behaviors you can implement to become more charismatic and memorable).
There’s plenty of girls around when you leave this sanctuary, after all, as you should be aware.
You’ll see some Central Park day game tips soon. May is finally starting to feel like May, so I’ll be out more.
