Good Things About Los Angeles
This weekend we had brunch with a friend of Derek's from P-m-na and his fiancee, who was also a relocated New Yorker. After commiserating with her about the things we miss about New York, I was surprised to find that she actually likes LA despite the fact that it is not New York.
What she said (this sounds really simple, but trust me, it was a revelation for me) is that you just can't compare the two. You can't will LA into being NY. The two cities are so different that they should not be held to the same standards. I was finally able to hear this, and I think I have a healthier perspective on being here now, and more of appreciation for what LA does have to offer. (My beautiful, overgrown neighborhood. Every ethnicity on the planet. Hours and days of exploration. Desert, mountains, canyons, ocean, palm trees. Etc.)
Mostly, I think I needed to hear this from someone else whose heart was admittedly in New York. Not to be too psycho-babbly, but I am now officially giving myself permission to enjoy my life here, without feeling that it is a betrayal of my love for New York and my friends who remain there.
Why didn't this occur to me six months ago? Life would have been so much easier - and more enjoyable. I wonder if there wasn't any other way to do it.
What she said (this sounds really simple, but trust me, it was a revelation for me) is that you just can't compare the two. You can't will LA into being NY. The two cities are so different that they should not be held to the same standards. I was finally able to hear this, and I think I have a healthier perspective on being here now, and more of appreciation for what LA does have to offer. (My beautiful, overgrown neighborhood. Every ethnicity on the planet. Hours and days of exploration. Desert, mountains, canyons, ocean, palm trees. Etc.)
Mostly, I think I needed to hear this from someone else whose heart was admittedly in New York. Not to be too psycho-babbly, but I am now officially giving myself permission to enjoy my life here, without feeling that it is a betrayal of my love for New York and my friends who remain there.
Why didn't this occur to me six months ago? Life would have been so much easier - and more enjoyable. I wonder if there wasn't any other way to do it.
posted by Melissa at 12:51 AM
2 Comments:
This is a nice post but it is totally unacceptable that I did not come home to a full week's worth of blogging from you, dammit.
I am reading that Ann P*tchett book which I bought in the Istanbul airport for a mindblowing 17 dollars (!) because I had no book I wanted to read and you had recommended it and I love it. But I am also really happy neither you nor I are L*cy Gre*ly. And not just because of the face thing. Mostly I mean her crazy behavior. Wait. By telling me to read this, you weren't trying to tell me something about my behavior, were you?
That's so crazy, because I am just about to read that Ann Patchett book. It's sitting on my nightstand.
A
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