Edward Hopper, New York Movie, 1939

At first glance, Hopper's piece bespeaks loneliness and seclusion. The doorwoman, excluded from the people and the screen, seems to hide in the back of the theatre. But I choose to view her separation from a different perspective. What if, instead of stuck back there in some sort of banishment, the doorwoman seeks a kind of refuge from the noise, the light, the rustling of popcorn chewers? Rather than exiled to this niche, she chooses this banishment to escape from all the motion of the movie. She simply takes a break from everyone else's life, and uses it to reflect on her own.

These moments are the ones I treasure. Not for the memories they create, but for the relief they give. True, these little breaks won't be things you look back on in your old age, or the stories that you tell your children and grandchildren, but these are what get you through the day. When you can take a step back from the crowd, and appreciate the moment.