I mean, don't get me wrong, New York City is nice and all but the 'be all and end all' it 'aint.
No-sir-ee.
See, we 'think' that there's this magic place where all your dreams will come true. For some it's Hollywood, for others the Big Apple. Name your city. Pick your place. There's probably a spot in the World where you've thought you'll be able to 'be' all that you feel you've been made to be.
If only you can get there.
Like Oz.
'Course 'Oz' might not be the best example 'cause all Dorothy wanted to do once she got there was go home--but that's kinda' why she came to mind.
See, NYC is a 'thing' all to itself. The pace, the smell, the sound, the people--all of it is overwhelming. Spending some time in the hustle of it all you get the feeling that a high-pitched life is the only kind of life to have, and the only kind that counts as significant.
But you watch the people there and you see two types.
Those visiting Oz--craned necks, cameras flashing, fanny packs (and fannies) bulging. The tourists are there to see if NYC is all it's cracked up to be.
Then you got the locals.
Heads down, feet flashing, blackberry or iPhone glued to the head, some form of argument or invective spewing from them and you think, "Dang, I wouldn't want to live here."
Then you have your meetings (at '30 Rock' aka: NBC headquarters) and you're meeting in a room NEXT to the SNL studio and you're thinking to yourself, "Dang, that gummy--there have been too many humans in these here halls--smell is the smell of Britney Spears and Chris Rock and Jim Belushi and Justin Timberlake and Sting and Al Pacino and Jim Carey..."
And they smell just like you and me.
And maybe that's the lesson NYC teaches you. Maybe when you put that many 'people' in one place you get to see what people are really like. And I gotta' admit that the picture's not that pretty.
Especially when you drive into South New York or Brooklyn or Queens as we did on our way to the airport last night because the highway was backed up. You drive there and you get to see how the 'real' people live. The people who work normal jobs and don't earn a million plus a year? Them folk live in an NYC devoid of all romance or charm. Their NYC is plain filthy and desperate.
And that's my thought for you and me today.
See it's one thing to live in a fantasy world. Sure, my second meeting (for dinner) at this wicked little spot in the East Village was cool and fun and great. Yeah the two types of water they bring you (one in a white glass bottle the other in a green one) are cool and the calamari was awesome and the chicken pot pie (from scratch) was chic and the waitress was playful and coy and the street was rockin' and the music was cool.
But you can't live at a restaurant in the East Village.
Nor would you want to.
You know what strikes me the more 'celebrities' and 'high achievers' I meet and rub shoulders with?
They want to be you.
They want your normal life.
And if you and I want 'theirs' that leaves our society in a weird place doesn't it? 'Cause you got the folk at the perceived 'bottom of the food chain' longing to climb their way to the top 'cause they think the folks up there got it on lock but the folks at the top are longing for the days when they could just go to the grocery store or mow the lawn without it being a big deal.
So if 'high society' wants what the 'commoners' got and the commoners want what the 'haves' got then nobody's happy.
And that's the point.
You gotta' learn to be content where you are, being who you are, doing what you've been made to do.
'Cause 'aint no city gonna' fix you.
T
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