Clairity's blog

My mosaic is made of tons of pictures from my Friday trip to Magic Garden. The main photo is about two childs playing on a swing. I also include the original photo below. And the background is a collage of more than three hundred photos that I took on my trip to South Philadelphia. So you probably can't see the small phtos clearly.

It is serendipity that lead us to the Magic Garden. It is serendipity that help us find the other shimmering mosaics. It is serendipity that "guide" us to this children's playground. Our city experience was like a child's play. We stumbled into things we never imagined to see. We climbed onto the strings only kids would play with. That's why I made this child-like mosaic.

Each mosaic tells a shimmering story. It's where we could find serendipity.

    When I was rambling around in Philadelphia, the city was distant to me. I was just a tourist coming to visit, taking pictures and looking at everything through my fresh new eyes. Our role changes every time we visit a new city. In my hometown, I'm the host welcoming the guests. But here, I'm just a visitor waiting for the city to welcome us.

 We walked slowly towards the Art Museum, trying to catch on with the surroundings. In the opposite, the city residents walked in a much quicker pace. We saw a lot of runners and bikers exercising on the street all day, ranging from students to the old. People took their dogs out for a walk. The owner of a food cart stretched out his head and said hello to us, hoping that we would buy his food.

 We finally reached the museum, with the grand staircases in the front. As we were climbing up the stairs, I heard women shouting and cheering. Soon, a group of young men started racing on the stairs. One of them even took off his shoes and ran in bare feet. I guessed he was the winner at last. They seemed to have a lot of fun in their playing. It was already 11:40 when we reached the top of the stairs. Looking back, the landscape of Philly was right there, as high as I am. I really wanted to go inside the museum or walk around to take a look at the sculptures. But since it's a long way from the library, we had to head back to the Free Library to catch the Quiet Volume Show.

In the article, Henig mentions some concerns about children's lack of playing nowadays. We have to admit that many many kids are indeed indulging in phones or video games. However, the desire to play and curiosity for serendipity are in our blood. Even if today's technologies take away most of our lives, we still keep a small corner of place in heart for fun, for enjoyment, and for play. I remember one of the top students in my high school studies so hard every day, even between classes or in the lunch break. But she liked comics books so much that she always saved a little time for her comics every day. She sometimes went to the cosmics costume parties now and then. This counts as a type of "modern" play. We all have our own ways of playing. Some people like to share it. Some just want to keep it to themselves. Although the processes may be different with each other, the feeling of excitement and relaxation is mutual. As long as we reach the ultimate goal , why worry about it so much?

An interesting example of my point would be my uncle, who loves travelling and appreciating the nature. He used to be a vice president in a world-leading enterprises in China. He had this whole promising future ahead of him, but he chose to resign from his position and started his trips around China. I knew play and curiosity were always parts of him that couldn't be erased, not even by reputation or wealth. I admire his courage and determination to really achieve a dream, a dream that we all have but rarely try to reach it.

     This is a part of the photo series Follow me, taken by a Russian photographer Murad Osmann. Travelling around the world with his girlfriend Nataly Zakharova, he  documented their trips by taking photos in which Nataly always holds his hand, leading the way. In retrospect, this is just like the relationship between me and the city. I feel like we're holding hands whenever I walk on the streets and alleys of the city. I lead the way, but the city is always behind me, following closely. I've lived, laughed and loved in the city. Here is my home.

     "City creates the theater and is the theater", as Lewis Mumford writes in What Is a City. We all live in a city theater. We perform our lives and dramas here. However, this is not just a theater for fictional plays. This is also our real-life stage.