Noticing isn’t always easy. Slowing down means seeing the cracks, too. The boarded-up shops that used to buzz with life. People whose faces bear the burdens of invisible weights. The way the world frays at the edges, inequity and neglect peeking through the gaps. It’s tempting to look away, to rush past and forget you ever saw it. Yet noticing, I... See more

When I’m not rushing, I notice how my feet hit the ground. There’s a rhythm to walking that you can’t hear when you’re power-striding to the next obligation, the hurried clack of soles erased from the auditory memory as quickly as it is created. Moving slower, my steps feel more deliberate, tethered to something larger. The uneven pavement tells a... See more