Released from the need to draw in black and white to make a living, I found myself in a whole new world of color awaiting exploration. All the colors of the rainbow! Plus I had rediscovered the nude human figure; I didn’t have to draw my figures with trendy clothes on anymore.
By inadvertently finding a job while in search of a book to entertain myself with so I wouldn’t have to think about the realities of life, including finding a job, I most definitely lucked out. Weeks before, I had heard the name Weiser’s Bookstore mentioned while I was participating in a free crash course in consciousness raising – a small group meeting once-a-week on Thursday evenings at a room on the 8th floor in the library at NYU near Washington Square. At the end of January, the leader who chaired the Thursday discussions hosted a Sunday retreat at his home in Queens, promoting the ‘next level’ for those interested in pursuing the paths of higher consciousness. Wary of group involvement, I said I’d think about it, and never went back, but the seeds were planted. In early February in search of wisdom, I made my way to Orientalia, a bookstore in the East Village at 13th St. around 4th Ave., a second-floor walkup that was the dimmest-lit and dusty/mustiest bookshop I’d ever been in; with an aged proprietor whom i sensed was possibly as musty as her books, and dimmed to quietude by time. I looked around the large loft space, full of rows of metal shelving packed with books, thousands of used books, many in hardcover, ultimately clueless about what I was looking for. Overwhelmed by the sheer mass of weighty matter surrounding me, plus not feeling comfortable with engaging the owner with my indecisiveness, I simply asked if there were another bookstore in the area that specialized in New Age books, and she responded sagely “You could try Weiser’s over on Broadway, just south of 8th Street.” So that’s where I headed that afternoon, only a few blocks away, a quick walk. Finding the address, I reached for the door handle, noticing a small sign taped to the glass saying “Position available; inquire within.” My heart beat a little faster. I pulled the door open and entered the establishment, glancing around to take in this new environment where serendipitously a job awaited, a situation that was about to radically alter my life.
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