Unexpected Red

I am a creature of habit:  waking up at the same time, ordering the same dishes at the restaurants, using the same machines at the gym, selecting the same color for the work folders….I am sure you get the picture.

Apparently, I am that same habit creature when it comes to method of public transportation: subway. More correctly, it is the same subway exits. The couple of weeks ago, I got off at the subway station, Queens Park, and instead of taking my “one and only exit” on the RIGHT side, I somehow ventured into unknown territory:  exit on the LEFT side!  It must have been the craziness of seeing the Christmas shopping list, shopping bags on my hands, trying to handle coffee cup in one hand (with the shopping bag)……

Then I saw IT!:  huge panel of red shiny tiles, airy space filled with light, people coming down into subway basement looking very happy(was it my imagination?). When I looked up and saw the unexpectedness of red tiles on the one side of the wall, glass panels at the top of the landing to let the light in, and all seemingly different elements tied together with clean lines of concrete stairs in the middle seem to work together well. It almost feels like the time when you put together an outfit with seemingly unrelated clothes, and the result is the outfit somehow works! This subway station worked for me like the perfect outfit!

We tend to walk faster inside of subway stations: There is not much to do and not much to see. The importance of “to see” is a huge factor in my own life. I realize that the reason for my “speed walk exercise” only at the subway stations was due to my aversion towards dark space, and wanting to get out  and  see the sun ASAP.  On the day, I “ran into” the unexpected red wall at the subway enhanced with daylight pouring in just made my day! With too many Christmas shopping bags on both hands, I somehow did not even mind walking up to the “stair of light.”