I love NYC/SD!

Liberty has many looks.
I just got back from 9 glorious South Dakota days, and now I'm exhausted and mixed up as usual. It is really like traveling between two planets when I go home and come back to NYC again, and it's hard on my body and my brain and my heart. I'm so sad to leave behind so many people that I love, but I'm so happy to be back in the action of this crazy city and all the adventures that wait to be had. I feel torn between two places that I love, and now I can truly say that I understand that poor girl on The Notebook ("Two men love me... my life is so hard.. blah blah blah...")

There are things that I will or already do miss about South Dakota. I miss leaving a place where people just take care of each other; people take care of me. They help me carry my luggage. They help me decide what to wear. They help me get to the airport on time. Some of them knew me when I was a blond haired, blued eyed baby and some knew me when I had that awful Justin Bieber haircut in the mid-2000's (I shutter to remember...). I have ROOTS in South Dakota, and even though we say the word differently there, everyone knows what it means. It's where I started to grow.

But now I live in New York City and in spite of the hassles and instability, I love the energy of this massive, dirty, electric place. I can do most things all on my own. I can start new jobs weekly (it's the temp life), find my way to rooftops in distant Brooklyn neighborhoods, and live off canned tuna and plain pasta noodles. There is a freedom in knowing I can do all of that by myself. When I meet new people, I get to be me, the woman I am today. They don't have to know about my middle school braces or that time in college when I had a Justin Bieber haircut. In some ways I feel like I really get to blossom here. Though my apartment is tiny, I feel like in this city I have room to grow.

So there you have it. I love NYC, and I love SD, and I guess I'm pretty lucky to get to call both home.

Comments

  1. betsyJuly 10, 2012 at 9:14 AM

    For the record, I liked the Justin Bieber haircut!

    ReplyDelete

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