[Downsides of New York City]
Sometimes I think this city is sick. SICK. There are so many opportunities, people from everywhere around the world, things to do and adventures to explore. The future is yours; it’s up to you what you do with it. However, it’s not quite that easy. It’s hard to choose from a million options when it comes to … anything and everything.
Everyone expects perfection and you start to expect it too. You are picky, very picky. Just ok doesn’t do it. You can’t do it? No problem, the next will. NEXT, BETTER, BEST. ACTION. Average is eliminated.
We meet many many people, we send an average of 50 emails/texts a day, we speak in a few languages … but sometimes it’s just sick, it’s exhausting. Too many people hungry for attention, for diversion. Monsters, many of them, like in Picasso’s paintings. They are not looking for the genuine, for common sense, for a connection, they are looking for approval, for status, for anything to make them stand out. Everything revolves around the American Express. Plastic surgery. NOOOO!!!??? What did you do to yourself? Some do not know the meaning of the word ridiculous, or the phrase less is more.
Only here have I seen ladies at 95 (yes, 95!!!) STILL wearing heels and STILL going to restaurants, even if this means 3 people have to help them get there, eat, and do anything for that matter. Key word here? DETERMINATION. Or craziness.
Some people, I think, live for other people, live to prove something to others. Sad, very sad. Insecurities. BIG insecurities. They spend a few hours a day in a restaurant. They like to be known and to be seen. Desperately. They will bring their just born babies, their grandparents, barely alive in wheelchairs, their dog, anything and anyone, just to prove something. I can and maybe you can’t. I am powerful. No, you are acting stupid. Period.
Many people will step on your toes, push you, play with your nerves. BIG EGOS. SELFISHNESS. I WANT this, I WANT that. NOW. Yesterday if possible. And then say, thank you SO much. Yeah right, like you really mean it. I doubt it. If you did, you would wait. Some things, as much as you want them to move in one direction or another, they don’t; they just don’t. Wait. Can you wait? I am not Superman, even if I would like to be.
Don’t forget, perfection perfection perfection. Uniqueness. Anything dull is killed right away. Patience? Not really. Here, time goes by differently than anywhere else. There is no time to waste.
NOISE, too much NOISE, I despise the subway, it’s unreliable, stops when you need it most and it’s full of rats.
The way I see it, a NY-er is a survivor; the city eats away, it sucks and consumes large amounts of energy.
Save your energy, save your energy, save your energy. This leads to yoga practices, kabbalah, eating extremely healthy, many of which are fanatics of only eating fruits and vegetables, exercising every day at every age, and I mean EVERY age.
Peace and quiet? Wrong stop, you ain’t gonna find it here. NYC is a HARD city, a different world altogether, are you ready? Prepared?
How do I handle it? I follow my heart and intuition to pick and choose from the multitude of possibilities …
[2010 Post]