I'm moving back to New York. Probably some time in April, if I can swing it.
California is a beautiful state with great weather, and is fantastic for outdoor getaways. But for now, I'm kinda over it. Living in the South Bay for a couple of years, at headquarters, has given me a lot of what I wanted: A taste for the West Coast; an exciting boost to my career; a chance to find my own style and voice in an environment that demands excellence, rather than settles for good enough (if that). Plus, now I can die saying, "I lived in California"—which, given the perspective I had on life growing up in Hampton Roads, is tantamount to saying "I lived on the Moon."
But being back in New York for the past couple of months has convinced me that this is the place that I really need to be right now. New York is where I headed after I cut ties with Virginia in 2005, and it's still the place where I feel the most at ease in the world.
This morning I had breakfast at a place on Bleeker Street called the Cafe Angelique—just as French as it sounds. In between the omelette and the salad—yes, apparently, the French have salads for breakfast, and now I can't blame them—and in between glimpsing at the students, the well-dressed retirees, the young couples, and the solitaires like myself, I noticed something else: I was having a perfectly great experience, by myself, surrounded in this place on all sides by the life and energy that makes New York uniquely its own phenomenon.
Sometime today I'll sign up for Improv clases at the UCB; I've been out of theatre for way too long, and what better way to throw myself into the heart and soul of the city? I hope that'll open other doors, too, especially to find people I can strum along with on my guitar for the first time in about a decade.
Though I still have the best job in the world and pour tons of energy and imagination and passion into it, there's something to be said for making time for yourself. At least in New York, there'll always be something to do with that time, and someone to do it with.
2 comments:
That's all very good, but when are you coming to visit us? You know, in the old world we not only have greens for breakfast, we also have laugengipfeli and fresh-pressed blood-orange juice. Just saying. :-)
Now seriously, good post. Nicely written. Almost makes me want to move to NYC.
Heh, I hope I'll be ready to come back your way by the end of the summer at the latest. Depends on how things go with this experiment—and whether anyone over there really wants me to come over, and wants to take over after I'm gone. ;-)
At any rate, in New York, I'd be much more inclined to hop across the pond, for both business and pleasure. So, actually, my return to Europe will become an inevitability.
But, oh, how I'd hate for you to move to New York! That'd be so e-ville of me. Good thing I didn't mention the other sights and sounds of my morning, like the brick-paved streets running between the brownstones, shops, and cafes of the Village; or all the bakeries and wine shops and delis in the Chelsea Market; the untold stories from every corner of the planet, and every scene, high and low, hinted at in the clothes, postures, and faces of every stranger.
And the bagels. Laugengipfeli are fantastic, I know...but New York bagels are worth more wars than fought in the history of mankind—and nobody's dying over them! How cool is that?
There was someone in the Cafe Angelique who actually reminded me a lot of you. Was she a ghost of a future New Yorker, perhaps?
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