Falling

It’s funny what you end up blogging about. And when I write ‘you’, I mean ‘me’ of course. You would think I would be waxing poetic on the marvels of life and philosophizing about the meaning of it all. Instead, I find myself inclined to write about embarrassing clumsy moments. So to back up, let me provide you with a little context:

1. First, I live/work in Boston and if you’re not familiar with this little town - there are a lot of brick sidewalks. And there are a lot of cobblestone sidewalks. In short, it’s treacherous.

2. Second, I work in a professional environment where my dress code includes high heels. I’ve started wearing shorter heals, but they’re still a good 2-3 inches.

3. Third, I walk a bunch. I walk to public transportation. I walk to work. I walk home. I walk running errands (funny oxymoron there). I’ve clocked a bunch of miles.

4. And finally I will sometimes read… while walking… in heals… on cobblestones.

And have I ever stumbled - absolutely. Has it been embarrassing - sometimes, even when no one is around. But have I ever fallen. Nope. I was thinking about this last night, and I think the last time I actually fell down was back in 2000 when I was trying my hand at snowboarding. In that case, after a day on the bunny slope and falling down all day, I had enough and walked away from it all.

So yesterday, as I was on my way to meet up with friends after work, I was absolutely stunned when I took a nose dive on a Boston city sidewalk. The thing was - I had changed at work to jeans and flats. I was on a paved concrete sidewalk. And I wasn’t reading. It made absolutely no sense that of all the times I would fall it was now. And at first I thought I was just stumbling and then there was that moment of realization as you are moving in slow motion that I wouldn’t be able to recover and I was going down. And going down hard. And there I was sprawled on the sidewalk. I was so stunned. A lady quickly walked by me unconcerned and it was a gentleman across the street that yelled out “Are you ok?” I was mad at…. What? I had nothing to blame. Not the shoes, not the sidewalk. There was no black ice or slippery wet grate. Was it a lazy left foot? Was I walking too fast since I was running late? Was I preoccupied and stressed with everything on my plate that my body short-circuited on me? What was it? And it wasn’t until a few blocks later that I started to feel the pain. And it wasn’t until a few hours later on my way home that my right knee started throbbing and swelling up and I realized the pineapple-blueberry martini I had was way too weak!

Perhaps it is the little things that put life in perspective. The classic tale of taking for granted such things as the mechanical capabilities of your limbs and all that is involved for them to coordinate effectively in movement. Or perhaps this is a tale of stopping to smell the roses. Slowing down and not traveling at warp speed. Or it could be a reminder that I’m not a young chicken anymore. Or I just needed a humbling moment. Or it could be it means nothing. That it was quickly forgotten once I joined my friends and celebrated a farewell for an old colleague. A passing moment… captured in my blog.