Mindfulness in Times Square? On New Year's Eve?

By Susan Vitti, Ph.D.

I have lived in New York all my life. Whether in the city itself, or an outlying suburb, I’ve felt deeply woven into the fabric of the city. I’ve lived here, worked here, fallen in love here, shopped here and generally been a part of the groove, hubbub, bustle and clamor. I am in fact, in love with this city. I go to the Brooklyn side of the bridge just to see the whole of it sparkling on the river at night. I ride the NY Water Way Taxi in summer just to see the skyline from the harbor. So, I understand why anyone would be drawn to it but what I’ve never understood is the desire to huddle up in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. No way, no how am I ever going to do it. So, in putting together some thoughts for this post the question entered my mind again. Why would anyone do it?! I’ve come up with innumerable reasons, none of which really satisfied as evidenced by the fact that I’m still asking.

In thinking about this again, though, I realized I’ve been asking the wrong question all along. I’ve missed the essence of what is really going on. What is significant is not where people gather but why. Why do we choose to gather together to mark the ending of one year and the beginning of a new one? What draws us to each other during this point in time? Maybe it’s the inescapable feeling of being on the precipice of both an ending and a beginning. It’s a time that seems to inevitably connect us to the polarities of existence; both the joys and the sorrows. Whether we gather in Times Square, a friend’s apartment, a restaurant or some quiet corner with our television tuned in, we gather together and in doing so we share this reality.

The holiday season, culminating in New Year’s Eve can be a time of celebrations and gatherings with friends and family. It’s a time we can easily ride the crest of the holiday wave and let ourselves be swept along to this final point in the year. We eagerly gallop towards one more celebration, one more party, one more event before the final page of the old year is turned and new one is begun. The emotional tenor this time of year, this week in particular and this day, the final day, is often one of revelry and mirth.

Alternately, the New Year is also a time-marker. Robert Frost referred to time as ‘the luminary clock against the sky” in his poem, Acquainted with the Night. The holiday season, the turning of the year and the passage of time, so concretely marked, can also bring with it awareness and realization of loss, times gone by, loved ones that have passed or difficult moments endured during the previous year. Life has a way of involving us in both aspects; the joys and the sorrows, the losses and the gains, the highs and the lows. Whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we can accept it or not, we all come to encounter all aspects of being human. If we can manage to stay mindful and in the moment, we may be lucky enough to see that in this regard, we are all connected to each other. In this regard, “we are all more human than otherwise” (American psychiatrist, Harry Stack Sullivan) .

It is, perhaps, in this realization, whether articulated or just beneath our awareness, that we feel the need to be with each other. It is at this pivotal moment in time, the turning of the year, as we watch our city’s luminary clock against the sky, that ball of lights dropping in Times Square, that we have some sense of our connectedness, our oneness with ourselves, each other and with the infinite. Perhaps we find it somehow comforting to gather together in this acknowledgement.

(Photo provided by UB1/Bill Larkin)

Mindfulness in Stressful Times: Car Bombs in Gotham

By Irene Javors, LMHC

New Yorkers have had a very scary and stressful week. On a prematurely summer-like, Saturday night in May, Faisal Shahzad deposited a car bomb in the middle of Times Square. The cliched "Crossroads of the World" became the unwanted arena of another spectacle of attempted urban terrorism. Fortunately, no one was hurt or killed, but an entire city held its collective breath while waiting to see just how serious a threat this smoking car was to the safety of New Yorkers.

How do we learn to live in a city that is a prime target for such attacks? How do we apply mindfulness practices to help us cope with terrorism? Ever since the attack on the World Trade Center, I have been asking myself these questions. My experience tells me that mindfulness is a concept that is closely related to resiliency skills building. Resiliency involves cultivating flexibility, multiple perspectives, humor, and the discipline of staying in the present. All of these skills are crucial to mindful living.

When I heard about the car bomb in Times Square, my immediate response was panic. But I remembered to keep breathing and stay focused on this very second. I listened to the news and asked myself, "What would be the most effective action to take right now?" I figured out that the best thing for me to do was to wait and see and trust that those with a great deal more knowledge and information would do what needed to be done.

After 9/11, I worked as a counselor at Ground Zero. On this past Sunday, I decided that if there was a need for the services of counselors I would volunteer. Most importantly, focusing on what I could do to help served to calm me and empower me with the knowledge that I could "do something."

Mindful resilience enables you to see yourself not as a victim, but as someone who has agency--even if this agency is solely about staying with your breathing in the moment. Feeling a vicitim is what is most disabling and feeds anxiety and fearfulness.

In the face of such danger, New Yorkers came together and pulled through. Gotham is a place of great resiliency and fortitude. Let us stay mindful and grateful for our good fortune this time.