back to sanity

tinley park is a frighting place to me. i feel so disconnected and alone when i am there. the thing is though that i don't want to relate. for the first time in my life i am excepting of being an outside. tinley park is filled with big box stores, a huge stadium concert hall, and every fast food chain you can think of. suburban culture is such a strange one to me. it lacks personability, uniqueness, individuality, it's almost the anti culture, or devoid of culture. it seems content with instant gratification and total disregard for sustainability. it makes me feel as if everything is topsy turvy and i have lost my mind. i feel as if the people around me are complacent, no longer have a hunger for information and don't question the status quo. 

now i don't claim every suberb is like, for i have been to some rather nice ones with lots of character and charm, nor do i claim that every individual in tinley fits this mold. but tinley really feels that way to me. tinley is where i spend most of my days currently. this all creates such a tension in me.

i have had a few classmates ask me how i can live in the city, for it's a dirty, and dangerous place. i smile and ask if they have been to this beautiful city i love so much. 

the chicago sky line is iconic. however, im sure it hold different meaning to different people. above is the first glimpse of it as i speed back to the city as quick as i can. i have suburb phobia, i swear it. when i see the sky line i can't help but smile and all is right with the world again.

to me the sky line is
culture
intelligence
art
music
theater
great coffee
freedom
farmers markets
bikes
intresting people
change
compassion
open mindedness
adventure
great food
diversity
people i care about
people i respect
people i relate to


please add to my list.... it goes on and on


as i continue driving i hope on lake shore drive. lately there have been lots of boats out, people are walking, running, cycling, sunbathing, recharging their bodies and minds. this makes so much more sense to me then the suburban sprawl. this is where life is. it all makes me want to grab my bike or running shoes and get out there... a lot of the time i do.

yesterday in one of my classes we were working on aerobic cardio strengthening. to reach our vo2max

we had to pick one of two testes to do.

the first was to walk a mile as fast as you can (no running) and to see how long it took. class average 15min!

the second was to get as far as you could in 12 min. I was in this group. me and a small handful of the group ran. 

today most everyone was limping due to the fact that they were so sore. i was floored! how can you be limping from walking... yes it was a mile... but it's walking. 

then i thought about. people in a city walk. people in the suburbs drive.  

how do we get people out of their cars and moving their bodies more? 
what is the purpose off all this suburban sprawl? is there any up side at all?