New York Agenda

Between working on my education and working full time, I feel like I haven' had the time or energy to explore what makes New York fabulous. I haven't seen a broadway show since I've been up here, haven't even entered Saks or Tiffany's, and don't know anything about Wall Street. The fruits of my labor are just that, that I come home to my apartment and spend lots of time in it because a) I'm tired and b) I'm paying a lot for it. Guess the cold setting in hasn't been much help.

It's fascinating what a difference living here and visiting here hold. Living here I'm unsure of what is going on outside my own little couple of blocks, uncertain about whether or not there is a parade (most likely there is), the circus is in town, or some awesome rock band. I wake up in the morning, come out into the EXTREMELY CRISP cold air, and walk to work, eat lunch back at my apartment and then head home after work. Sometimes I do other things- meet up with people for drinks, go out to dinner, catch a movie at the Angelika. And that's what I like most about living here. Is my schedule is totally flexible. I'm not going to have to drive an hour to see a friend, or really plan in advance going somewhere. Even leaving town for a weekend can be an impulsive decision. There are trains and planes and automoblies all waiting to take your money and send you somewhere wonderful. But not as wonderful as Manhattan.

I think I wouldn't have enjoyed growing up here, being without a yard and tons of dogs and cats and horses around me, being without fields to hide in or carpools to school. But I'm glad I'm here now and glad I can consider raising my own family here when I get to that point. I'm glad I'm in a place in my life where I'm happy not being married and working full time and really looking forward to the weekends. It's helped me appreciate the time when I will settle down and fully share my life with someone and when I will get older and maybe be able to take more time off to explore the world around me.

Yesterday one of my friends sent around one of those surveys that you do when you're stuck at a desk all day in an office that barely knows your name. I was bored, completed it and sent it all out, and received it back from most of my friends. What was best about it, though, was that we all had essentially the same things to say about what we would do if timea nd money weren't issues in our lives. We would all travel the world, helping others who were less fortunate. This thrilled me on several levels, but mostly because it means we haven't lost sight of where we belong in our lives. Right here, right now.