30 before 30: #5

see the starry night in person.

i was in new york city for memorial day weekend to present at a psychology conference. it was my first time in the city, and i really enjoyed using the time when i wasn't at the conference to explore, and i knew that when i had the chance i wanted to go see the starry night.

i could do this every day.

one morning, i decided to walk through central park from my apartment on the upper west side. i planned to only walk through for a few blocks before popping back out to catch a subway. what actually ended up happening was i got lost in the magic that is central park, and ended up weaving and winding my way 3 miles through the park. it was one of the most enjoyable workouts i've had in a long time! i was just constantly distracted, which makes me think a race through the park would be awesome. i couldn't believe it when i ended up standing in front of the plaza hotel. maybe it was the coffee that kept me company, but i just felt so excited being there. and then i realized that if i was at the plaza, i was just a few blocks from moma.

i'm sure you can imagine that it took no time at all for me to speed walk to the ticket line. moma is a pretty pricey museum, but they do accept out of state student ids for a discount, so i only paid $14. before i knew it, i was standing in an elevator, riding up to the paintings floor.

i made it in to the gallery where van gogh's works are before i started to feel lightheaded. i know this sounds crazy, but between the caffeine and my 17 years of obsessing over van gogh, i was feeling faint at the reality of seeing his most famous work in person. so i excused myself to the restroom to get some water and to calm myself down hahah

after a few minutes, i emerged and was ready to finally see the starry night. i went back to the gallery, and found myself standing behind a huge group of french tourists. so it turned out to be a very anti-climactic reveal as they slowly disbursed and the painting came in to my vision in pieces. but at last, i was finally standing face to face with the painting that sparked my obsession at 8 years old.

i'll be completely honest in saying it was everything i hoped for. i've read so much about van gogh and his life and art that seeing the brushstrokes in front of me made me feel so close to the artist. i pictured him painting it as i got back in line to see it from every angle. in short, it was perfect.

my first thing on my 30 before 30 list is complete! only 29 more to go!

who is your favorite artist?

-b