The repetition of things

An experiment

“I have to see a thing a thousand times before I see it once.”
— Thomas Wolfe

Day 1

I have one month left in Sydney, and I come across the most spectacular park. I descend into a forest, walk through alleys of ferns and under canopies of cobwebs to find tennis courts and meandering paths. I eventually complete the loop with an ascent of thirteen steep flights of stairs.

With a regretful feeling, I tell a friend I wish I’d ventured into the park sooner. She tells me it’s inevitable to find things you love towards the end, and reminds me that I also discovered things I loved at the beginning.

Day 2

I find myself at the park again. I tend to do that with the things I love—repeat, even if they don’t love me back. In the past, I’d refill an empty glass, extinguish one cigarette only to light another, fall for a different unavailable man.

But they were all false loves. The park circuit is something I can love and repeat and it won’t hurt if it doesn’t love me back. I decide to do a loop every day…