NYC!!!

New York City….It really is my favorite place on earth. It has everything to do with chaos. Most people do not want more chaos in their life, and I get that… I certainly do not what more chaos in my life. That is the beauty of New York City. It is not my chaos. You enter this island that is about 12 miles long and just a few wide and it is PACKED. There is hardly an inch of space. And as high as you look you see buildings, and the buildings have trees growing on them and behind those buildings are more buildings and the sky peeks through and the clouds pass over.

And then if you are lucky enough to get to the top of one of these buildings on a clear day (or night) what a view… You are looking down at the tops of some of the tallest buildings in the world…All the chaos that surrounded you a few minutes before is tiny, meaningless, quiet.

But back to the ground for a minute. Walking the streets of NYC is the chaos I embrace. There is honking and flashing and beeping and yelling. There are cars, people, buildings, dogs, bags, Elmo, flashing lights, store fronts…There are languages, all kinds, everywhere. There is no guarantee anyone near you is vgoing to speak a work you understand. And here is the beauty of this moment. None of this chaos, not one sensory overload, is MY chaos. It all belongs to others. I can stand there and see, smell, hear, a million things, and none of them belong to me. They are not my problems to solve, my messes to clean or my people to supervise. It makes the chaos in my own life seem so insignificant, minor.

The other part of NYC that is so wonderful is the diversity. Let’s face is, W. MI is pretty homogeneous. And I am not just talking about black and white, I am talking about everything, religion, politics, ethnicity, class, race, language, culture, education, EVERYTHING. I think (and you are welcome to disagree), but I think it is harder to be unique in a place like W.MI where there is so much sameness. I feel more judged for being “different”. That may not be true, but that is often how I feel in this area.

In NYC, no one gives you a second glace (except that one guy who was totally checking me out when my one gives you a second glace (except that one guy who was totally checking me out when my skirt blew up in the wind). I see people of all colors, races, cultures and ethnicity's. People who are visiting, vacationing, learning, living, working, driving, walking, riding… Jewish, Muslim, Orthodox, Atheist, and lets not forget the entire cast of Sesame street Monsters hanging on a corner.

And I must give a shout out to Broadway showsHairspray,Wicked, Mamma Mia, Promises Promises, The Adams Family...), amazing restaurants(Norma's for Breakfast and the Halal stand for a late dinner), museums, history, famous people and shopping (seriously, you must go to the Apple store, it is underground with a glass ceiling, glass elevator and glass stairs!).

Now it may seem strange that I choose to live in W.MI, but there are many great things here… and to live in NYC, well, I will be the first to admit that I would figure out those annoyance of big city living pretty quick, but I need a good dose of the chaos, sensory overload and abundant diversity once in a while to keep balance.