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Accident Got Me Thinking About What's Important Dart Westphal
It has been quite an experience and, at the risk of being self-indulgent, I want to offer some ideas from the perspective of someone who has experienced danger. Now, I know that a lot of people in this community have experienced danger and exhibited heroism in more harrowing conditions than simply trying to cross the street. But even though I expect to recover - and I am very lucky not to have been more badly hurt - my ordeal has changed my outlook. First, I am obviously more interested in pedestrian safety now. Without going into the details of my accident, getting hit by a car while walking is a bad thing and making it less likely that such a thing will happen to someone else seems more important to me now. It is also clear to many of us that some intersections in our community could be made safer, that cars could move more slowly and more care needs to be exercised all around. Being laid up for a while also teaches patience. I tend to rush around and one can't with broken bones. Everything takes longer, from getting a cup of tea on the table to making a small trip. There's nothing to be done but overcome it, as those who face physical challenges every day can tell us. The need to make decisions about how to spend time become more obvious. Do I really want to do one thing instead of another? Lots of friends visited, brought me books to read, and offered to take me to or bring me lunch. Now that I am getting better, do I want to stop visiting and sharing meals with friends as much? Will I read less? Will I exercise less as I recover and stop physical therapy? I certainly hope not, but as the late great Georgia O'Keefe once said: "To see things takes time ... like to have a friend takes time." It's an effort to "re-create" ourselves. True recreation - physical exercise, discussing the issues of the day with friends and colleagues, reading - all takes more time and effort than hanging out and watching TV. Patience being more important and time seeming more valuable makes me less patient with people who waste time. If we have to be patient and wait decades for some of our parks to be improved, schools to be built or the Yankees to be on TV, why must we spend so much time on unimportant details? For example, if we decide to let the mayor control education, does it really make that much difference whether or not there is a Board of Education to set policy that is in turn controlled by the mayor? We are about to hold up the teacher's contract, finding new capital sources to build the schools we need and deciding on the effectiveness of summer school until the control issues get resolved. If we wait to solve the control issues, which will always be with us, nothing will ever get done. As we bicker, a disgruntled, underpaid, star teacher who leaves the system will be gone from our city forever. I guess, fundamentally, I think more now than before about how to figure out what is important. An old friend once told me that the only important things to do in life are to create beauty and alleviate suffering. There are of course other things that have to happen: food has to be grown, subways driven, etc. But people in the Bronx over the past bunch of years have paid a lot of attention to making this place more beautiful and alleviating the suffering within it. It would be tragic if we let all of that be tarnished by nonsense: bickering, litter, dog droppings, vandalism, inattention, a lack of care. It takes effort to care; one must "really see" as Georgia O'Keefe said. See the pedestrian so as not to hit him, see the ugliness so as to know it should be removed, see our neighbors so as to think they might be interesting people to know, see our institutions, houses of worship, stores, community groups and centers so as to think we might want to enter them. It's good to be back. Please join me in taking a closer look around. Dart Westphal is president of Mosholu Preservation Corporation and publisher of the Norwood News.
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Hello, it's good to be back. As some of you may know, I was hit by a
car last December which broke both my legs. I have been back at work
since the end of March. I'm still on crutches, I get tired easily and I
have to take time out for physical therapy, but I am starting to be up
and around again after three months.