I'm back... back in the New York groove
So I know it's only my second day back in NY, but already I know that I want (need) to be back here.
I am so tired. And I am absolutely thrilled about it. I had forgotten how much energy it takes to simply get somewhere and back. On my way to the workshop this morning, I basically worked out for like 30 minutes straight. I was running a little late (something about the 6 train), so I was hustling and was out of breath by the time I got downtown. And, at the workshop, I used my brain all day (I'm learning SO much), so I am thoroughly exhausted.
Anyways, this was all I needed to realize that I really am simply just happier here. There is no one reason, it wasn't just that summer, and it isn't just that Jackie is here. I have met the most amazing people--the kindest, most intelligent people--over the past two days, people who are willing to offer advice about careers in the non-profit sector, and people who are honestly interested in listening to what you think and learn about where you're coming from.
They say people are kind in the midwest, but these people--mostly native New Yorkers and people from surrounding areas--make people from Marquette look like selfish, self-serving, hypocrites, even if they are more polite-seeming. I'm sorry that's harsh and its obviously not about any of you that read this, but it's what I think. I could have never sat in a grant workshop in Peter White and gotten the same, valuable feedback and guidance and EASE from all the doctor's wives who have so much money they can't see straight.
Okay, enough MQT-bashing. I'm actually in an extremely good mood. I think I just like it here because I use more of myself here. I am using my talents, my thoughts, my mental energy. I am using my body, my humor, every last bit of my gall (to speak up in the workshop, to start conversations with neighbors, to ask for directions or GIVE directions to people who ask). I use more of myself here than I do in Marquette (and I might do the same in any city, who knows?). In Marquette, I go to work, where my boss underestimates and then overestimates me on a daily basis. I go to school, where no one cares about the classes they are in, maybe not even some of the professors. I go to the bar, where the same people pack in to get drunk. (And we all know I love the bars there, and I love my peeps and I love traditions, but I'm just adding to the monotonous feeling I get.) But, it seems that I use more of myself here, so I am more myself. That's the point I'm trying to make--that NY (or maybe any city) takes so much from me but repays me exponentially.
P.S. The Virginia Tech killer was an English major. I don't know how I feel about that.