New York, I Love You, But...
Living in New York sometimes feels like living on another planet. There's no such thing as a supermarket. I don't have a car. I have to pay someone else to do my laundry because there aren't any self-service spots. I had to pay a taxi to drive me to Goodwill to give away hundreds of dollars of clothing. You can't buy more than a 7 day supply of anything. It's just not a normal place.I left Manhattan for the first time in 2007 (for longer than a weekend) this week to visit my family in Colorado. I've been driving not just any car, but my former car (in all it's amazing perfection). I've been to supermarkets where I could find not only the shredded broccoli I like, but ALSO my shampoo (in the same store!). Turning up the music, windows down, cruising through the mountains at 75 mph.... yes please. I could use more of that.
There is an overwhelming sense of freedom out here. Maybe it's the enormous blue sky or endless plains and mountains. Maybe it's my clear schedule. I feel like tomorrow I could decide I wanted to be anywhere in the state (or country) and make it happen. In New York, it feels like a chore to even get to Brooklyn. I feel so unburdened having that sense of limitation lifted.
There is a bit of irony that being in a semi-rural locale where my selection in everything is limited I find myself feeling less limited than Manhattan - the supposed center of the universe. Are these false boundaries I've created? Is it financial in origin? Will it change now that I have relatively more time and resources? When will Manhattan cease to feel like a temporary deviation?
posted by Anne @ 11:23 PM
2 Comments:
im not sure it ever does.....ive been here 15 years
I feel SO much more freedom when I'm back home on the west coast. I feel like people who live in MA become trapped here, thinking this is the ONLY place to live. And they lose the desire to find out otherwise. It's especially bad around Boston.
I can't wait for May. Washington, here I come!
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