It was all so spontaneous.

Unpredictable.

Violating the sacred boundaries of my comfort zone.

I finished up some work on the computer and snapped my laptop shut.

I threw on my leather jacket to keep warm, laced up my Gore-Tex boots to keep my feet dry, and wandered out of my apartment into the frigid embrace of the brisk night, my camera swinging gently from my neck.

My boots hit the sidewalk without direction or purpose as I began searching for whatever it was I was looking for.

Listless.

Lost.

Alive.

I quickly discovered the city had been waiting patiently for me, slowly revealing its secrets with each shot as I meandered my way through the scurry of passing cars, couples with interlocked gloved hands, a drunk stumbling while singing some forgotten, archaic tune.

And every time I raised my camera to my eye and heard the shutter go “click,” I thought to myself how lucky I was to be dragged out of my place by the swift wings of spontaneity.

Photographs and Prose copyright Mike Yost 2016