Ladies and Gentleman- I found my niche in the world yesterday!You know how people always say that corny line of "I found myself in"...Paris, London, while sunbathing on the isle of Santorini, or while hiking up Mt. Kilimanjaro? Well, if "finding yourself" means a complete sense of peace and contented and well-being...as though the universe aligned just for you for a moment in time, then yesterday I found myself on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
I was walking around the Upper West Side and somewhere between the pre-war apartments, the unpretentious atmosphere, Levain's Bakery, Riverside Park, and the view of the Hudson I experienced that feeling. More specifically while sitting in Riverside Park, listening to Clair de Lune and watching the river (btw, everyone should do that sometime in your life, its pretty much amazing). For the sake of time, so that Im not blabbering on and on, let it suffice to say that I am now completely in love with the Upper West side. I re-visited it today just to make sure it wasn't a one time thing, and again amazingness! I think there must be some geographic, or numerous geographic locations that just fit each of us yknow? As though our interests/likes/taste preferences/emotions are embodied in a location. Even the grocery store played blaring classical music, and I found the cutest little used book store. I know this whole thing probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but I don't care. All I have to say, is someday I am going to come back and live on the Upper West Side.
Anyway...so today I visited some of the sites from You've Got Mail, which is one of my favorite chick flicks of all time. Something about the modern Pride and Prejudice tale just pulls at the heart-strings, and the fact that it involves two book stores and is set on location in NYC doesn't hurt either.
Today was absolutely lovely. I know this has more to do with me than where I am perhaps (although I think location does contribute quite a bit), but I can actually say that I feel happy. I'm not in a position to live in NYC permanently at this stage in my life and I know that. I know that to some this is a sort of 'vacation', but I've discovered a lot about myself through this adventure. So for now, I'm just going to enjoy my time here and relish the moments.
To be continued.....
