things born of sitting in traffic

yesterday our car sat still on the road for almost 2+ hours as roads were closed and backed up on our way to Lake Tahoe. i dont recall ever sitting in traffic for so long. and because grew up in the City of Angels, that is proof of the craziness of the situation.

there was something almost magical about it. granted, i wasnt driving- but technically the driver wasnt either. something happened though. people got out of their cars taking walks up and down the highway. couples in love waltzed, teenagers laughed moving clumsily, babies released from their seats holding their moms nervously and dogs galloped on leashes to smell the grass- only to see another dog close by. people shouted from car to car asking questions. a sea of parked cars suddenly became a neighborhood of newcomers.

i looked at the paved road closely for the first time. concrete mixed with colorful stones sunk into the grey. i longed to touch the giant pebbles with my bare feet but the grime and dirt got the better of me. i slipped my shoes on. i got out, stretched in the heat and sat back down. taking the opportunity to just sit. i so wanted to take a photo of the road but my phone was dead. i wanted to make lists and look at facebook and read other blogs. but i just sat. read my book. and then sat some more.

thoughts began to creep in. my ideas, plans for the future and how i want to develop this blog, increase the reach of my classes and the products i make. how i can design classes that incorporate art with health and wellness topics. all these thoughts come up so often and feel like w whirling dervish but today in the traffic i just sat and wrote about it. it was lovely. ready for me to start with once i am done with vacation.

 

have you had experiences like this? what have you learned in traffic?