Exploring a Library

I love a good library. That's something I realized tonight. For me, I have mostly thought of the library as the place where I go to pick up my requested books or CDs, and then I go home. In and out in a flash, so to speak, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. But since I've been at college, life moves a lot slower. I feel I can ponder things better; I do a lot of thinking. This mental patience prepared me for the experience I had tonight: the new experience of exploring a lonely library just to soak up the feel of the place.

Previously this semester, I had only used the library to print off stuff in the Honors lounge. The building was for all practical purposes to me a printer. Also, since I had never visited NSU prior to my coming here, the remainder of the library remained foreign, a mystery. So, I walked around the library for a half an hour, my ears wide open. The third floor especially caught my attention because of the shear silence. I could hear myself breathe. I found out that my right shoe squeaks slightly. Whenever I started walking, anyone on the floor could hear me. The sounds of my backpack brushing against my jacket as I walked were obvious to me. It was nice to be reminded of the absolute beauty of a few tiny sounds. They draw your attention to the minutia of life. It's not often you get to take a moment and look at the world through a different scope, under a different magnification. Sometimes I get it when I'm looking at the stars on a clear night, or sometimes a dazzling orange sunset will do it. We're so used to looking through our own eyes only that it's hard for us to remember that there's anything else.