on this date in history...

[lagilman]

Two years ago this weekend I came home, lock stock and two smokin' cats, to NYC.

One of the best decisions I ever made.

I'd grown up in the 'burbs of NJ, but my parents worked in Manhattan, and I went there often. It wasn't The Big Bad City to me, but a place of excitement and comfort. When I graduated from college with a job in publishing, I wanted badly to move there, too.

It... wasn't to be. Not for another twenty years, and some major life changes. And I was worried, at first, that the dream had been just that, or it was too late, or....


Last night I went to the local Greek place with sinboy and rosefox for late-night gyros. Walking back, I realized what date it was, and it struck me how very right it feels to be here, even at the two-year mark, which is normally when I begin to get wanderlust again. Oh, I still have the need to travel, to see different places, hear different voices, learn new things I couldn't find even here -- but I return happily, not dragging my feet or dreading the return.

I said once that I live in a state of constant chaos, and in that chaos I find my center. I like it that way -- it keeps my brain engaged, my creativity high. Change -- the slow constant evolution of your awareness -- is good. It's, for some of us, essential.

Unlike anywhere else I've ever lived, NYC understands, accepts, and even advocates a constant state of change: you can leave and come back, changed and yet the same, and there is no discomfort, no trying to fit in again, because it too will be a different city, and yet still very much the same.

For now, for the foreseeable future: I'm glad I'm home.



and wow, I'm not sure that was the post I meant to write when I started. But it's all true.

Comments

[ex-fashioni.livejournal.com]

A) I'm so, so glad you have this in your life. It's hard to believe I've known you (in intarwebz terms) to remember how unsettled you were feeling that last year in CT and the excitement and expectation when you moved back home.

And B):

I said once that I live in a state of constant chaos, and in that chaos I find my center. I like it that way -- it keeps my brain engaged, my creativity high. Change -- the slow constant evolution of your awareness -- is good. It's, for some of us, essential.

Unlike anywhere else I've ever lived, NYC understands, accepts, and even advocates a constant state of change: you can leave and come back, changed and yet the same, and there is no discomfort, no trying to fit in again, because it too will be a different city, and yet still very much the same.

This is exactly how I'm feeling about the move to Seattle. I'll check back in two years and let you know how it's going, but right now, I suspect I'm going to have a very similar feeling. *g*

[girasole.livejournal.com]

And New York City is glad to have you back where you belong.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Geez, two years already? On the one hand, it doesn't seem like that long ago -- on the other hand, it's hard to remember you not being in the neighborhood. :)

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

Funny, I woke up this morning to the realization that "hey, we've been in this house 2 years already!"

Maybe this will be the year we finally finish unpacking. :}

[klingonguy.livejournal.com]

Is it selfish of me to wish that it had worked out that you'd landed in Philly? Tough!

[divanoir.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVS3WNt7yRU

[ubiquitous-a.livejournal.com]

I paid a long weekend visit to NYC a few weeks ago for the first time in several years, and I was struck by some of the little changes that have come to be (cabs take credit/debit cards???), but also by how comfortable I felt to be back there. I don't know that I'd ever want to live there (I live in South FL now, and am very comfy to be here), but I do think I want to make a point of visiting a bit more frequently. :)