climb ev'ry mountain

when i was young my favorite movie was 'the sound of music'. i must have watched it at least 37 times. i didn't really understand all the politics in the story line but i did understand that being sixteen going on seventeen and been whisked around a glass rotunda in the pouring rain was possibly the most romantic thing that could ever happen. i adored julie andrews and her flawless voice and sparkling eyes. i even liked the crotchety old nuns who were helplessly trying to figure out 'how to solve a problem like mariaaaa' because she was such a troublemaker, always coming in late because she was singing in the mountains and woah, she even wore curlers in her hair. yikes.
i know every word to every song on the soundtrack. and that means a lot because unlike the rest of the world's population i cannot recite the lyrics to 'ice, ice baby'. what is that song called btw because i'm sure it's not 'ice, ice baby'. or is it? a google search says yes, that is exactly what it's called. okay. moving on.
there is this one track in the movie that the older, wiser nun (reverend mother) sings to maria as she is trying to figure out her path. it's your generic inspirational track. about reaching for your dreams, following rainbows etc. the line that launches her into song is 'when the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window'.
and this is what this post is about. windows. not the literal ones (like the ones in this hotel room that i cannot open even though i'm six stories in the sky so who - other than spiderman- is going to get in through these windows if they were open?) but metaphorical windows (i know, you're thinking 'finally. golriz, did we really have to go through all that - especially the vanilla ice part - to get here?' no we didn't. but it's 6am. i'm in new york city. i haven't had much sleep and so you're getting stream-of-consciousness. apologies).
my life, and i imagine i'm not alone, has had its share of doors closing and windows opening. sometimes the doors creak closed, over time, and gently shut with barely a sound. and sometimes they slam and everything in the room rattles and things fall off the walls. sometimes someone else will be directly involved in a door closing and sometimes i make the choice. but always, in every instant once a door was closed a window did open. i firmly believe we have the choice to seek out that window and clamber through it. and it's not always comfortable. i mean, after all it is a little bit more graceful to walk out of a door, then shimmy out of a window, BUT the important thing is that we still have the option.
and who wants to stay inside when the world is waiting just outside your window?
speaking of worlds outside windows, today i woke up in
Time Hotel in bed with a bright! crimson red! comforter! (and yes, the exclamation marks were all necessary, you'd understand if you saw the room) it looks like an unoriginal valentines day card threw up in here.
i woke up early. traveling throws off my 'i can sleep till noon' habits unfortunately so i stay up too late and jolt awake too early. and then a few seconds later realized where i was. one of my favorite cities of all time. new york. i'm here for work - a broadway conference. lots of shows to see, things to learn & people to meet. on the list of things to do is get lost in east village, find baby cakes bakery, explore the brooklyn flea market, take a lot of pictures (you get spoiled for choice in this city), and lie on the grass in central park and look at the sky. (don't tell me about how dirty central park can be - let me revel in my idealistic reverie thankyouverymuch)