This Easter weekend I walked 13.1 miles in one day (according to my Apple Health App). WOW. While many of my days are spent looking down or forward, just trying to get to where I am going, the weekends are times when I can stop and look around. I take the long way home, even if it means walking 40 blocks south, or meander through streets and ignore my map discovering new parts of the city I never knew.

I can also look up. Looking up to the buildings and sky to see a different perspective than the daily commute. A lot of New York looks down and I’m guilty of that too. We try not to make eye contact, especially to avoid those people who want you to sign petitions and just want “a little of your time to save ______.”  We just want to get where we’re going in the fastest way possible. This weekend, I found  new perspectives on things as I looked up on the city and not down to my feet. My phone helps me to remember these moments and also prove that I finished my first “half-marathon” this weekend. Here’s what I looked up to: 

Looking up to the Highline

Looking up to Rockefeller Center

Looking up to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral

Looking up 5th Avenue toward the Empire State Building from Washington Square Park