The Smell

Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience
- Author Unknown

The other night, I went to a happy hour and back. In order to avoid the possibility of paying for parking, as well as gas and driving at night with my headlight out, I took two different trains. I also got myself some really nice blisters to boot. What made this walking, riding, and blistering experience rather exceptional was that on my way back to the last train of the evening, I could smell it.

In the middle of Philly, after a few beers but not too many beers, I could smell something new. It was almost like I was transported out of this time and placed somewhere else. What I smelled was like the remnants of another life, colliding with this one. The smell was familiar though it didn't remind me of anything that has happened yet, it reminded me of what was to come. It only lasted for a few minutes and then my mind wandered to the fact that my body was wandering and I needed to get my barrings as to where I was.

The smell was exciting to me. From the moment I had left my house, bag on my shoulder, prepared to take in the happy hour I went to, I felt different than any other time when I had gone to Philly. I felt like this is what I was meant to do. This is what my life is meant to be filled with. Train rides and writing and discovering, not just for me but for others as well. The happy hour was short of spectacular but that's alright. I've got to go back in order to take notes as to what I thought of the establishment and it's offerings. Still, I am left with the memory of a few moments of knowing. I'll know it when I'm living it fully but I still got a glimpse into something that's waiting around the bend.

The smell wasn't cooking food or baked goods or anything of that nature. It was subtle but it was real. It wasn't trash or urine or any of the other lovelies that one sometimes takes in while in the city. It was different. It was me, just not now but, rather, in the future. The me that's currently being born, that's currently coming to life.

For now, I have to be patient. Very, very patient. I've been failing at that virtue lately. Getting worked up internally about things that simply won't matter when all is said and done. No point in being miserable in the process of the climb though sometimes that's much easier said than done.