Paths
A path, the general form of a filename or of a directory name, specifies a unique location in a file system.
The PATHS (Providing Alternative THinking Strategies) curriculum is a program for educators and counselors that is designed to facilitate the development of self-control, emotional awareness, and interpersonal problem-solving skills.
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PATH (Port Authority Trans-Hudson) service between New York City and New Jersey.
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A Garden path sentence is a sentence for which the responder’s most intuitive interpretation is an incorrect one, ultimately luring them into an improper parse. Garden path sentences are used in psycholinguistics to illustrate that, while reading, human beings process language one word at a time. The “garden path” is a reference to the saying “to be led up the garden path”, meaning “to be misled”.
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or perhaps you are simple talking about the path you decide to walk everyday.
Regardless of the type of path you are talking about they all lead you somewhere. Everyone has and is on their own path. I have been trying for the last three weeks to walk a new path to places. When I leave my apartment, when I leave my classroom, when I go out shopping. I have been trying to walk different ways even though I am heading to a familiar place. New paths bring you new experiences. You see new things and meet new people. There is something comforting about old paths but truth be told, like old files that should be deleted, old paths. like old conflicts, don’t need to be embraced. You remember the old paths, learn from the old paths but sometimes it is best just to let go and move forward on a new path. The small little changes you make with your feet sometimes really do help to provide an alternative thinking strategy.
This summer in New York we rode the PATH train. This PATH brought us many new and interesting places. The PATH was quick and efficient and helped us enjoy the New York traffic as a tourist photo opportunity instead of seeing it as something delaying our path to fun.
Enjoying your path somedays takes work and somedays your path is filled with simple morning hellos, beauty and new experiences. For me the goal is to find a balance between planning my path and surrendering to embrace my path, where ever it takes me, where ever it leads me and whatever happens to be on my path that day!
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. You’re on your own.
And you know what you know. You are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”
-Dr. Seuss-
A Moment at 1090 Madison Ave
The booths in Nector Coffee Shop and Diner in New York at 1090 Madison Ave and 82nd Street are beige and plastic. The table tops are light brown and the wait staff wear white uniforms as they dance around the small space. After a day of classic New York experiences, singing at church in Harlem, enjoying Central Park and then touring the Metropolitan Museum of Art we were thrilled to sit down, enjoy a bottle of wine and debrief on our adventures. My open roasted turkey sandwhich, had bread perfectly soaked with just the right amount of gravy. Watching the table next to us struggle with getting ketchup from a bottle then lead us to a lengthy conversation about the fine art of the perfect way to pour ketchup.
I looked across the table and smiled at my friend. Like many of the other New York moments on this trip, this trip to the diner had now become a part of the story of us. A split second on the journey that is our friendship. All friendships have their own unique paths. The moments and ways you met, the times your friendships were tested and the days you just laughed together in the sun. Like the New York PATH train after 11:00 p.m. not all friendships travel in the most direct route but sometimes the starts and stops, like the ride to Hobeken, are needed.
Being away for a year I have missed a lot of stops on my friends lives. However this summer I have enjoyed catching up and adding new pieces to the stories of us. Together we are on a journey, though high school heart breaks, from first loves, to first wives, from fallback jobs, to careers, from babies to writing books. We paint new apartments together, take rides in new cars, embrace new adventures and quietly hold hands when someone we love dies. We are always in each others hearts even if we aren’t physically in each others lives. Friendship doesn’t come with an expiration date.
As we paid our bill and enjoyed a watermelon lollipop we smiled. It was good to be a diner in New York. It has been great to catch up with friends this summer. To add more pages in the story of us.
“Old wine and friends improve with age.”
Friendship
With the travels and dinner parties this past two weeks have been a wonderful time to better get to know my Kuwait friends. Sometimes we get so busy with work and daily life that we forget to just stop, sit around a dinning room table and get to know the hearts of the wonderful people that are your neighbours.
It was nice that last weekend 6 lovely ladies got to laugh, shop, talk, explore and drink red wine in Duabi. It was wonderful to learn about our unique diversity, the interesting choices we all made to shape the people we are today, who we were and how we have grown. Working, living close to and being friends outside of work with people you work with sometimes presents challenges but I truly do believe if you take care of your friends the way you would like someone to take care of you, the challenges find a way to bring you closer together.
Dubai is a huge Arabian Disneyland experience, that was interesting to explore, but what I cherish most from that trip is not what I saw but who I got to spend time with. Thanks Ladies!
I had eventually come to understand that friendship was a delicate, gradual process that mustn’t be rushed or seized upon but allowed and encouraged to take its course over time. I pictured it as a butterfly, simultaneously beautiful and fragile, that once afloat belonged to the air and any attempt to grab at it would only destroy it.
Kuwait City, KUWAIT
Christine Oastler is a freelance travel writer, teacher and artist, currently living in Mahboula, Kuwait. Born and raised in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Christine obtained her Bachelor of Arts at Trent University and her Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University. Currently traveling around the Middle East she finds herself riding the odd camel and embracing a new culture!