Quotessence
Home / Authors / Aspen Matis

Aspen Matis Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllAspen MatisHikingMemoirPctEmpowermentYoung WomanYoung GirlGirl In The WoodsAmbitionHiking The PctHomeLoveNew York CityOccupy Wall StreetSelf EsteemAutumnCreativeCreativityDawnEvening

Famous Aspen Matis Quotes

“He kissed my mitten. “Then we’ll get you to New York,” he said. He described Manhattan as an epicenter of creativity, a midnight tar-paved island where the young artists of the world go to pursue themselves. Listening, growing warmer, I peered up through the tent’s mesh roof at faraway stars, faint glitter, giddy.”

StarsCreativityNew YorkNew York CityMidnightArtistsManhattanCampingArtists LifeTent
Book:Your Blue Is Not My Blue: A Missing Person Memoir
Create image

“The New York sidewalk led us along a little corner park rimmed with yellow-orange and violet pansies that seemed to be smiling, their faces upturned, and past a bagel shop that smelled of sesame and salt, delicious warm air. We passed an empty wine bar with a pink chandelier, whimsical and dim inside, and a neighborhood diner with its blue neon sign huge and lit up, little white line-cook hats—the city seemed in my vision like a multifaceted gem, spectacular. I wished I could keep everything I witnessed like a photograph, to forever hold this electric aliveness. The colors of the flowers and the clothing were crisp and rosy, hyper-bright against the subdued sun-drenched pigments of the streets and the brick buildings, all seeming faded, softer than real. Pops of coral and red—a scarf, a lady’s lips—were pops of life.”

PhotographNew York CityFlowersDeliciousSidewalkPansiesGemParkDinerChandelier
Book:Your Blue Is Not My Blue: A Missing Person Memoir
Create image

“I began a new project: a photo-essay about the Occupy Wall Street movement that was overtaking Manhattan. Inspired, I snapped hundreds of photographs, wanting to document this singular moment in New York’s pulsing body, watching people flooding the sidewalks like human rivers, converging at the green park as one ocean. I took shots of the sharpest signs and strangest masks; the angry bankers in their crisp blue button-downs; the lines of bored-faced cops, slouching with thick arms crossed. And peering through my viewfinder, I learned the skill of noticing more deeply; I felt a thrill—a new civil affinity budding in my dreams and in the brick-and-mortar city, simultaneously: that we, the people, were awakening to the truth that a bundle of twigs is inconceivably strong.”

New York CityManhattanMasksOccupy Wall StreetPhotographsStrength In NumbersSocial MovementPhoto Essay
Book:Your Blue Is Not My Blue: A Missing Person Memoir
Create image

“Walking downtown in a cool October drizzle, Justin and I were offered an umbrella by a middle-aged stranger in an olive bowler hat. “It’s extra,” he said, bowing down slightly. “I brought it because I knew someone would need it.” A palpable force seemed to be unifying the people of the city, the sudden camaraderie of solidarity. Arriving in the Financial District, we saw a tent city in Manhattan’s heart. A thousand people were gathered on the grass of Zuccotti Park, wielding cardboard signs with powerful reminders: “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free” and “We are the 99%.” Chatting with the campers, individuals who strongly reminded us of thru-hikers from the trail, we learned that this patchwork rally was a coordinated response to our country’s growing wealth gap.”

StrangerGenerosityNew York CitySolidarityUmbrellaCamaraderieUnifyingOccupy Wall StreetWealth GapFinancial District
Book:Your Blue Is Not My Blue: A Missing Person Memoir
Create image