Zen and the Art of Speedskating

Salt Lake City has experienced a wild boom of construction. And the Salt Lake City public library has risen out of this urban renaissance into truly one of the most impressive buildings I have seen in a very long time. From the outside it’s a gentle collection of curves and windows flowing together, on the inside, standing in the central open area, the glass ceiling rises 6 stories above you, staircases wind along one wall like strands of DNA, 3 glass elevators silently zip up and down with their massive counterweights exposed; on the other side of this open space tiers of shops give way to endless study nooks & reading couches. This feels more like it could be a sci-fi set from Star Trek’s deep space nine, rather than a public library. This image is from the libraries own website yet it’s a pale hint of the reality.

Joy’s deli occupies one of the business nooks on the ground floor, and I was speaking with Joy herself, a sunny Asian woman who makes simply phenomenal sandwiches (I can highly recommend the meatball sub!)

I remarked about the amazingly beautiful architecture of the Library, and how I am looking forward to bringing my laptop here to work (and yes, and to blog! free wireless in the whole city block!) when I move to salt lake in a month.

She asked me why I was coming to salt lake, and I explained I would be training at the Utah Olympic Speedskating Oval (another unique building as well), preparing for my shot at Olympic trials. Joy gushed with “wow, isn’t that wonderful”, I stopped her and said “there are so many fast guys in the US, I am 98% for sure not going to the games, this is really just me vs myself”, she gave me a funny look and said:

“it does not matter, you have a special talent, and you are using it, and that is absolutely wonderful”

I felt a surge of little kid irrational happiness coupled with a whoosh of perspective. As human beings, we all need to feel appreciated for our gifts, and sometimes it’s complete strangers behind sandwich shop counters can tell you what you yourself can miss as you look in the mirror every morning. Maybe its typically human, to feel as if you are at times a stranger looking at your own life, as David Byrne of the Talking Heads sings in “once in a lifetime”

” And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself-Well…How did I get here?…

“And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?…Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!…WHAT HAVE I DONE?”

anyway, thanks Joy!! I am pretty damm happy on this highway… wherever it leads…

Filed under: on the road