I get regular e-mailings from the Hassid Lubovich organization (CHABA"D), and this one might interested readers of this Foroum. I am fully aware the Jew etc. should be replaced by all of Abraham;s spiritual children, certanly main-stream Muslims and Christians.
Grateful in Grand Central
By Sara Debbie Gutfreund
It had seemed like a good enough plan at the time. My husband had gone to the Apple store in Grand Central to upgrade his phone, and I had wandered into the Hudson News bookstore. Ten minutes later, as I was flipping through 101 Must-Visit Natural Wonders, my phone rang.
“Come to the Apple store,” my husband said when I picked up the phone. “They mixed up our phone cards, and your phone is going to shut off any second now.”
Before I could respond, the line was cut off. I stared at the words in the upper left corner of my phone: “No Service.” I felt vaguely uneasy, like some part of me was missing. Reluctantly, I shut the book, glancing once more at the photo of the turquoise water lapping against a towering cliff on some island I had never heard of.
I threaded my way through crowds of people on the stairs leading up to the Apple store, a labyrinth of rooms opening into rooms. New laptops and tablets sat on glass tables, and rows of rainbow-colored phones climbed up the back wall. I instinctively reached for my phone to call my husband—and was again distressed to see the empty space where my signal used to be.
As I scanned the store for my husband, it seemed like I was the only person who was not on a phone. People were speaking into the air or texting messages, glancing up and then right back at their screens, waiting for answers.
I positioned myself at the end of the balcony, overlooking the main floor of Grand Central. I looked down at the people rushing by. And then, inexplicably, I looked up. I was astounded by what I saw. Above me, the ceiling was covered with stars shaped into all of their miraculous formations. For years I had rushed off trains in this station, careening at high speed down corridors to the subway. First it was for school. Then it was for work. The New York run-or-be-run-over mindset was so ingrained in me that I would often rush even when I didn’t have to. And throughout all those years, I never once looked up. I never saw the stars.
And I never really saw the people, either. Families from all over the world snapping pictures beside intricate pillars I hadn’t noticed. People dressed in beautiful clothes striding beside beggars in ripped shirts. Lonely faces. Smiling faces. And everything in between. For some reason, perhaps because I wasn’t looking down at my phone like everyone else, several tourists stopped to ask me for directions. I was pointing out the direction to Lexington Avenue when I spotted my husband. He had left the Apple store to look for me, and was now frantically waving from the bottom of the steps.
“That was scary,” he said, as he shook his head. “Disconnected in Grand Central.” As we rushed off to reset our phones, I glanced up at the enormous ceiling once again. I saw my husband follow my gaze, and we stopped for a moment.
“You know, I never noticed that before,” he said.
On the way home, I thought about how I had felt standing on that balcony in Grand Central. I had felt grateful. In the middle of one of the noisiest, dirtiest, most crowded places in the world, I had seen beauty. Overlooking a station that I ran through for years, I had seen so much that I had never noticed before. And if that could happen in Grand Central, then what would the rest of my life look like if I remembered to look up?
Studies in neuroscience have found that the human brain cannot possibly process all the information it is exposed to. Therefore, the brain has to choose what tiny percentage of stimuli it will focus on. So we literally shape our own reality, distinct from the reality of the person sitting next to us. Our ability to see the world from other vantage points is the foundation of our happiness and success.1
For us, as Jews, gratitude is the basis of so many mitzvahs. We wake up in the morning and immediately express our thankfulness to G‑d that our souls have been returned to us. Throughout the day we continue to thank and bless G‑d for the food we eat, for our clothing, for our bodily functions. Even the very name “Jews” (Yehudim, from the Kingdom of Judah) alludes to gratitude: Judah was named so by his mother, Leah, who was expressing gratitude to G‑d for giving her this son.
Choosing to focus on what we are grateful for allows us to see the abundance in our lives. And sometimes, life itself forces us to look at new realities that are different but equally true. Sometimes, on a balcony in Grand Central Station, we can look up and see the stars.
FOOTNOTES
1.
Shawn Achor, Before Happiness (New York: Crown Business, 2013).
Dave, you've hit upon one of the great joys I have found, and others with me on my Ridewithmehenry safari's into and around the Big Apple. And GCT is a great example: "I never noticed that before!" It happens everytime we trapse through GCT or along any subway route or out the window of every train we ride. Every Ridwithmehenry ride is not "oh, we've been there, done that before" but "that's changed, that had to have been there before, it's something new they started...25 years ago, etc." From the sklyline views to the side of the track trenches, there is always something you've never seen before no matter how long its been there and how many times you've been there, too.
RIDEWITHMEHENRY is the name for our almost monthly day of riding trains and transit in either the NYCity or Philadelphia areas including all commuter lines, Amtrak, subways, light rail and trolleys, bus and ferries when warranted. No fees, just let us know you want to join the ride and pay your fares. Ask to be on our email list or find us on FB as RIDEWITHMEHENRY (all caps) to get descriptions of each outing.
Thanks for posting. I always find new things at locations I have been to before.
Grand Central was the terminal for the first intercitiy train ride I remember, from Hartford, age about 2-1/2 or 3-1/2 . I remember the auto trip to Connecticut, and the train ride back. But the first time I noticed the stars on the ceiling was age 5 going to summer camp on two special 12-1 Pullmans.
My apartment bedroom has glow dots pasted on the ceiling in a few astrological sign formation, just for the fun of it.. I just enjoy that ceiling myself when I turn off the lights to sleep at night.
Dave: Thanks for a great post. GCT never has failed to impress me with its wonders, starting in 1956 arriving from Chicago on the Pacemaker. And since its restoration, it really looks great.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Great post Dave, and a great story! Well worthy of...
"Grand Central Station! Crossroads of a million private lives!"
Anyone know of a blog or website with a diagram of the GCT concourse ceiling design?
I searched for details about this ceiling and found a website that might work: <placematters.net>. Once on the site, you will have to search for "Ceiling of Grand Central Terminal's Main Concourse". Unfortunately, it does not have a map BUT it does offer a few clues:
1. The image on the ceiling is actually backwards. It seems the artist worked from the plan as if laid on the floor when he should have viewed it overhead.
2. The site gives a list of the depicted zodiac images as well as showing the Ecliptic and Equator paths.
3. The site says the color of the painted sky replicates that found in Greece and southern Italy during the months of October through March. I don't know if what is shown is also of that locale or what is supposed to be viewable in NYC during a blackout.
I hope this works for you. I live in Harpers Ferry WV but as a native New Yorker, I've always had an interest in the city; unlike being in New York, I see the stars ever night there's a clear sky here.
“Things of quality have no fear of time.”
Thanks. Any other clues will also be helpful. Thanks
Concerning the thought about the beauty around use, I was recently reminded of the Gershwin song, "I've got plenty of nuttin'" from the opera Porgy and Bess --- "like the stars in the skies, they're all free."
I'm barely 30 and can't imagine approaching having a panic attack without cell phone access even though cell phones have been common throughout most of my adult life...
Neat story although the article would almost lead you to believe that that's the only bit of beauty present in what is one of the most magnificent train terminals in the world. It's an architectural masterpiece and reading that makes it sound like she was surprised to find some unnoticed beauty in an ugly wasteland.
Ever see those post-Sandy photos from New York City when the power was out and all those people were having panic atttacks because they couldn't charge (and use) their cell phones, i-pods, i-pads, tablets, and various assorted electronic gimmicks, gadgets, gizmos, what-nots and whizzeroos?
Makes me glad I'm a dinosaur and don't use my cell phone for anything but phone calls.
Thank God the gizmo between my ears still works pretty well, although Lady Firestorm may give me an argument about that.
On a related note, PBS had a fine program Friday on the planning and building of Penn Station, featuring Alexander Cassatt and his visionary decision to build it.
Firelock76 Ever see those post-Sandy photos from New York City when the power was out and all those people were having panic atttacks because they couldn't charge (and use) their cell phones, i-pods, i-pads, tablets, and various assorted electronic gimmicks, gadgets, gizmos, what-nots and whizzeroos? Makes me glad I'm a dinosaur and don't use my cell phone for anything but phone calls. Thank God the gizmo between my ears still works pretty well, although Lady Firestorm may give me an argument about that.
But I will bet you do use a computer. And how can you blame people for wanting to put the two in one package? And add a third, tell time too? Yes, today, you can buy a "Dick Tracy" wristwatch. Commnicates, takes pictures, makes recordings, and works as a cellular telephone. Time is as accurate as any digital wristwatch.
Oh certainly Dave, I do use a computer, otherwise what am I doing here? However, the way the company's set up now It'd be very difficult, if not darn near impossible to do my job without a computer. Their choice, not mine. I got along for years just fine without one.
I've gone out of town for a week or more and left the ol' box behind without any cases of "digital withdrawal." I could lose this thing tomorrow and not miss it, but I'd sure miss all of you guys! It's the only thing that would get me to buy one of my own.
Wayne
PS: Dick Tracy's wrist radio/ TV/ computer/ whatever-it-is now? Forget about it! I'd rather have his classic old Colt Detective Special!
I enjoy its convenience. Burg watches is the manufacturer. Dutch company, made in HongKong. Don't use it (Yet?) for texting or internet. May do so in the future.
From what I've been reading on this thread, it sounds to me like GCT is the same as a work of art because like a fine painting or sculpture, the more you look, the more you see. When I lived in New York and waited for the train home to Poughkeepsie, I loved to sit in the bar on the concourse ( now a Michael Jordan's) and just look at the place. It was impossible to be bored as there was so much to see. I'm just sorry that I can't take the Century to Chicago.
I agree that there is more to the beauty of GCT than just the fine ceiling. The proportions of the window, the staircases, even the gates at the platform entrances, all have been done with a sense of decore. Ditto the information booth and the black and brass clock.
I've only been to GCT once, and to say I was stunned and amazed would be putting it mildly. what a masterpiece. Not quite a time machine to 1913 but pretty darn close. I didn't have much time for anything more than a walk-through, but I suspect a whole day wouldn't have been enough.
Yes, GCT is beautiful. I spent an hour wandering around observing things and taking pictures. Every area has little charming details, such as the inch deep ruts worn into the stone under the doors to the main hall, and the whispering chamber.
Oddly, while taking pictures of the great hall is okay, I learned that the MTA police don't really like you trying to take pictures of trains sitting at the platform. Some lessons are learned the hard way.
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