A Letter From the Editor

So quick story time. The other day I was sitting in the quiet zone of the train For those of you who don’t know, the quiet zone is the upper level of the trains that run during rush hour. The purpose of this is so that people can have some quiet on their way into work or on the way home, to sleep, do work or just have some silence before and after a busy day I was sitting in this area on my way home when a man came running onto the train carrying a large bag.

He seemed quite flustered as he was looking for a place to sit, breathing heavily as he clumsily shoved his bag under the chair and finally settled into a seat next to a couple. He listened to the conductor make the safety announcements and the various stops as the train began to chug it’s way out of the station. A look of confusion slowly appeared on his face and he turned to the couple, very loudly asking if this train was heading in the correct direction of his desired location. They kindly informed him that he was going in the right direction however he was on the express train and this train would be passing his stop. It quickly became apparent that he was new to traveling by train and was definitely not aware of the concept of the quiet zone.

To cut the story short, the man proceeded to have a very polite, lengthy, pleasant, but very disruptive interaction with the couple and by extension veryone else on the top floor of the car I watched, becoming slightly more invested than I care to admit in whether or not this man was going to make it to his destination.

After he left the train I couldn’t help but think about how much time I had spent observing this scenario take place. It felt like I was watching a sitcom or something. There was no real way for me to know what happened and I realized how many possible outcomes to his story there could be. From the location he was heading to and the giant bag he was lugging around to the phone call he took with what seemed to be a skydiving company, the questions and possibilities were endless.

It was this pondering that led me to think about how many things have to happen for you to have the life or experiences you have everyday. In my opinion, it truly is kind of magical. Every moment is another point in your story and your imagination is the limit to what the outcome is.

With that, I encourage you to stop for a moment and watch the environment around you and imagine you are looking at a movie. Take a moment to appreciate the messy room that has been lived in or the relaxing view of the lake. Then imagine what you would want to happen next in the movie and start taking the steps as the main character to achieve those. Consider that all the events that happen “unexpectedly” are just furthering the plot in your personal, magical, story.

With love and light, aria