Life After New York

Today, as I walked down the hill past the cemetery on my five-minute walk to work, I breathed in the fresh intermingled scent of trees and grass and a faint breeze from the ocean down below. And I couldn't help but think, this is how the earth is supposed to smell. Being in New York City helped me remember why I came to Alaska in the first place: to experience a place where people were still deeply connected to this planet in their everyday lives- and to each other.

A hint of green on Lafayette Street, New York City

June 2012

It's already starting to be hard to believe I spent the first half of this summer there. In a way, it was so different from my everyday life here in Juneau, it kind of feels like a dream.

I meant to spend more time chronicling what it was like to be there, but a few things changed that. One, the program I was taking at NYU meant long hours in a classroom and when I got home I often had more work for class. After that, the last thing I felt like doing was spending more time on the computer, writing.

So I ended up walking a lot, covering a good portion of mid to lower Manhattan, across the Brooklyn Bridge to Downtown Brooklyn and back across the Manhattan Bridge. I walked because it was a good way to see the neighborhoods and because it was free and once again I was experiencing what it was like to be a broke college student.

Lafayette Street

Honestly, when I was in the city I often felt lonely despite being surrounded by people. It wasn't for lack of contact with others... but maybe genuine contact. No one really seems to care or want to hear your story; there are millions of other stories. And it takes time (at least for me) to feel like I am a part of things, to establish solid friendships.

I especially missed my life, my boyfriend, and the home we've created together. It's been years since I stopped being a college student and joined the full-time work world. In fact, I've never felt like "just a student" since I got my first part-time job at 14. And there I was, surrounded by many classmates just getting out of school, some of whom had just left their hometowns for the first time. It didn't make me feel so much "old", as it reminded me that I am simply at a different stage in my life. I've been there, done that. And I like where I am in life now.

While New York City is a fascinating place, I missed the outdoors, the mountains, and the Pacific. I guess I'm just a West Coast girl at heart. But the city does have its own beauty...

Standing on Broadway, Lower Manhattan

I liked watching the sky: the clouds and light reflecting against the buildings, different with each passing minute, and at night the twinkling lights of the cityscape.

Union Square

In the end, going to New York helped me learn about far more than what was taught in class. And isn't that the way life is, anyway? Sometimes the most important part of traveling isn't what you see while you're away- it's about learning how to really be at home.

The Brooklyn Bridge

(P.S. This is not to say I won't be sharing some of my experiences of Lower Manhattan's grit and glory. I'll be back soon with a post on my old neighborhood. :)