Thoughts by Robbie Goldman
The phrase “ground score”, once unfamiliar to us, has become an activity we keep on our minds, pretty much every day. You don’t have to hang around our friends for long before you begin to hear stories of amazing ground scores. It usually will be the perfect item at the perfect time of need. Sometimes there is some planning involved, like frequenting taxi cab loading and unloading spaces where people often drop items, but most of the time it is about being aware and looking in places most people do not look.
The reality of being outside for much of the day, and constantly moving from place to place, puts our friends in locations that many people walk through but often fail to truly know or even see. We call this the rut of the familiar. Objects, places and people can become a blur to the eye and to the mind, and though noticed, are rarely truly seen. Cash, cameras, cell phones and other valuable items are often passed by and then become someone’s ground score. While ground scoring is not a reliable income stream, it is a valuable practice.
We have recently started using the phrase “chasing the light” to describe what we do or, even better, how we do what we do. Chasing the Light reminds us a bit of ground scoring. As we move throughout the city, filled with lives and buzzing with stories, we are aware that in all people and places there is light. The Light that illuminates every person and every story often can appear as only a blur when caught in the rut of the familiar. As we train our hearts and minds to move in and around the city we set our eyes to chase the light. Aware of the truth that light is there, and often hidden in plain sight, only covered by a thin veil of the familiar, we chase it. We chase it in each person we meet, in every story we hear, chase it in each place we walk or pause. Light chasing at first can seem unfamiliar or maybe even unnatural but, as we have learned from our friends about ground scoring the perfect item, it is about being aware and looking in places most people overlook. We find chasing the light to be a most valuable practice, one that has become an activity we are mindful of and pursue every day.
