We stood on the Kings road waiting for a bus to take us to the South Bank… Our Saturday outing plan – to journey there for brunch and walk home along the river five miles or so…
The bus didn’t come, and still didn’t come…
‘I’m going off this bus idea’ I laughed…’I vote that whatever comes first – taxi or bus – we jump aboard’!
‘Okay, you’re on’ Anadi replied…
A taxi appeared with his orange light shining, responding to our raised hands he pulled in… Anadi asked for Trafalgar square just as I said ‘the South bank please’… ‘Well get in and you can decide where you’re going’ our driver laughed…
He told us there was a road block – buses weren’t getting through due to a football game, that we would have had a long wait…
We talked as we journeyed together along the Thames through Saturday traffic; London looking busy again, but our taxi driver told us a different tale…
‘We’re having a very tough time – no tourists – September and October usually such a busy lucrative time – but this year no…’
He told us that he works mainly at weekends, but now the weekends are full of other drivers working too, trying to make up for their quiet weeks…
‘We need to “ride about to help out”, as well as “eating out to help out”I said…
He continued chatting about his life – struggle prevalent in his stories…
He told us of his work stresses and the ones at home too – and even more with his properties – his tenants finding it hard to pay their rent – ‘I understand – but I’m not a charity’ he mused…‘But once we have solved one stress, we make up another, don’t we?’ he continued… ‘Always something – we always find something to worry about, that’s what we all do…’
It is – what so many do – create worry and more worry with every thought…
But – there is no time like now, to “press pause”, and come back to the present moment… And to create a different thought at the very least and so begin a new process of possibility rather than probability…
To dream a brighter future into being, breath by breath, thought by thought, word by word, deed by deed…
He dropped us off at Waterloo and we walked past the world of taxis – a long line of cars – their drivers sitting in solitude inside… No fares to be seen…
In trying to find the South Bank we walked through a huge arch full of graffiti artists – it was like entering another world again… The metallic smell of paint – strong and intoxicating – huge works of art covering the walls – painters at work, an edgy atmosphere of artistic expression…
Messages of power, statements from deep within the person onto the wall in front of them – engrossed in their work with the onlookers looking on and wandering by – life in motion – another world… Us the observers, walking through the matrix in all is complexity and colour and confusing contours…
Out into the daylight…
We climbed the steps and walked through the doors for our brunch into yet another world…