The Airport

Written originally 04/07/17 & 04/09/17

People walk about, a network of connections, waiting, traversing the airport network. Travel for business, perhaps? Or for pleasure. Maybe, it is out of duty or obligation, such as funerals and the sort. As you wait for the flight do you choose to consume junk or organic? Water or soda? Coffee or tea?

So many choices.

This airport has a yoga room. Yes, you read that correctly. Now yoga is mainstream. DO you sit and wait? Or walk around? I am curious about the yoga room. Is it full of incense and dim lights? Or is it just a bunch of people wearing Lululemon clothing, bending over in their too thin leggings (including the guys). In the meantime, I have finished my organic chai ( which used Starbucks chai, unfortunately). Perhaps I shall walk to that yoga room. I won’t stay sitting. There is so much to see in this airport that it feels more like a mall…

So I checked out the yoga room. Yes, it had dimmed lights, which automatically creates a relaxed ambiance. Several females in their 30s to mid to late 40s were doing various poses. I joined them, taking off my hat, wrap and shoes. Sun salutations and bow and arrow poses allowed me to stretch. I also meditated.

What would happen if more people practiced yoga at airports? Would they be more relaxed? Or is it an excuse to say one is spiritual or whatever and be a jerk afterwards?

Airports. That one word conjures up images for those who travel. Big planes, metal tubes with wings that fly people from point A to to point B. Long lines, security points, tickets, luggage on wheels. And don’t forget the 3 ounce rule. Overpriced food, that one always seems to buy, even if one has bought their own food. And the people. IN all shapes, ages and sizes. Walking to their terminals, dragging behind them wheeled bags. Holding hands with their child, or a cell phone in hand, texting their coworker or boss or lover. A web of movement, knowing where to go but also not quite, due to various distractions of noise, advertising, restroom seeking and the hunt for caffeine that most have an unhealthy addiction to in order to brush away grumpiness and sleepiness. Which then leads to said bathroom hunt.

Many are plugged in to their electronic devices, be they headphones, laptops, cellphones. Waiting, anticipating, the future. Or contemplating the past.

Two strangers meet in line at security. One, a young female in her early 30s comments on the man’s black macbook pro. Laughing, he responds that it’s an IMB and he put the sticker on there to blend in with the macbook users at coffee shops. She asks, more as a statement, that he is trolling them. He said yes.

They part ways, going to their separate destinations. Will they meet again? Or was this a one time meeting? Who knows the future except Father Time? In the meantime, it is that time to once again find a bathroom, perhaps a half decent meal, before boarding the flight.

….

The chai cup sits on the table, steam coming from its frothy, spicy contents. A woman sits, holding the warm cup in her hands, looking at the steam dancing on the surface. She glances up, looking out the window and seeing the olive trees’ branches sway outside the floor to ceiling restaurant windows.

She glances at her watch. 8:23am. Still on time. Yet still waiting.

The sunlight pours through the windows, lighting up the restaurant’s white walls, slab wood tables and granite floors with a soft glow of the morning’s sun.

Luggage next to her, she knows that it’s back to the airport, back on a plane, back to the status quo of life.

Has anything changed? Of course. But deep down, her core values didn’t change.

Adventure is wonderful, and choosing the right one is an art. Sometimes we pick spot on, and other times we make mistakes. Or perhaps it’s a mixture of both. Fun and pain, Pleasure and annoyance. Rest and unrest. Pounding migraines and contact highs.

She will remember this trip as a mixture of both. Hopefully the good is what is remembered. Having new experiences allows one to do their own thing and form their own opinions.