1) DATE-TIME-LOCATION: Thursday night about 11:30, 10th floor of Vander Poel Hall (my dorm)
2) OBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: With West-facing windows, my dorm room looks out over the last bit of Hofstra’s residential side and beyond to Roosevelt Field Mall. Streetlights can be seen miles away toward the north shore, towers slowly blink their red lights, headlights and taillights pass in and out from behind buildings and trees. The lights in the distance appear to flicker, the glow from the streetlights reflect off of the large windows of some of the taller buildings, and at the nearby intersections, I can see the traffic lights change. The whole time that I’m gazing out the window, I can see the reflection of myself; my grey sweatshirt, the light from my computer reflecting off of my glasses, the mirror hung on my wardrobe, the lamp lighting the room are all clearly visible in the window.
3) SUBJECTIVE DESCRIPTION: Really, this lighting “moment” is nothing new. In fact, it’s something that I can see every night, and it’s one of my favorite sights in the world. Maybe it seems mundane to others, but it’s a sight that is still new and fascinating to me. I can see all of the commotion; people moving, living their lives at any moment of the day. I find peace in seeing others living their lives before me; the world is there, people are running errands, seeing friends, going to work, riding the bus home from the night shift. Knowing that the world would go on just like this even if I’m gone is strangely comforting to me. But mostly, it makes me feel like I’m finally living life, that I’m finally a part of the world. For eighteen years, looking out my window would reveal the moon, a few stars, maybe a faint outline of the barns or the trees, and then darkness. No neighbor’s lights, no streetlights or traffic lights, almost never the headlights of a passing car. Of course, this is also peaceful, but I’ve wanted to leave the dark and the 30 miles to a Wal-mart or a chain restaurant for most of my life. Before, I would see myself clearer in the window, but now, I can see myself and the signs of a fuller life that I’ve wanted for so long.