Tim, my partner, recently printed off this photo he took in May of 2018. Back then, we were visiting our daughter, Hannah, who was just finishing up a semester abroad. Part of our trip included a visit to Stockholm, Sweden. While in Stockholm we made sure to take in some of the art in their subway stations.
At 110 kilometers, the Stockholm subway system is said to be the world’s longest art exhibit. There are about 100 stations, each with unique art on its platform or walls. Over 150 artists have been involved in the subway project which began in 1957.
We stopped at the T-Centralen metro stop and went down the three levels to the blue line. Artist Per Olof Ultevedt had painted the cave walls there with beautiful blue leaves and vines. He meant his art to have a calming effect on travelers passing through the busiest of Stockholm’s subway stations. He created beauty in the bowels of the train station. His art is something that makes you pause and say, “ahh” in the middle of your journey.
We need those moments of awe, whether we are traveling abroad or just making our way through the day to day. I think we need to stop at the various stations we find ourselves in and catch our breath before moving on. There is so much that can take our breath away if we just stop long enough to notice it.
E.B. White wrote, “Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, the savoring must come first.”
In the T-Centralen station there is another blue and white mural created by Ultvedt. This one features the silhouettes of different workers with their construction tools. He created the display in appreciation of the workers that worked at the station before it opened in 1975.
So many people pass through our lives, let us pause and give thanks. May we savor the moments and give thanks for the workers, people like Clifford. Cliff spent his life working as a welder in the Superior shipyards. As his family said, he could fix almost anything.
Cliff’s greatest love was his grandchild, Alexey. He accepted Alexey with their pink hair, many rings and personal pronouns of we, they and them. Alexey wrote some remembrances for Cliff’s memorial service. They wrote about every day holy moments. Moments like when they used to eat out together at their favorite restaurant, Subway. Alexey would help Cliff order because they knew what their grandpa liked, and grandpa couldn’t hear what the sandwich makers said.
At the end of their talk for their grandfather, Alexey held up a sign that they had painted. It read, “Shirley and Clifford together forever”. It was art of another kind, but so beautiful for this particularly sacred passage.
Yes, let us savor the people and beauty around us as we pass by.
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