There’s something special about arriving in a city after
dark, particularly if you claim it as your own.
We (as in any transplant to New York) sneak away for the
holidays, needing to refuel, rest, or reassess. Home always brings perspective,
and it is often this viewpoint, which you know and trust, that leads toward a
direction so easily lost in the city. We can hear ourselves think when the
beeping horns cease, and hours slept each night are counted on two hands verse
one.
But when we (as in any “New Yorker”) are away from the
incandescent orb that is Manhattan and its vibrant boroughs for long enough,
there is a sense of absence or deficiency nipping in the back of our minds.
Luring us, stirring us…until unexpectedly, we are hit with the original pang of
passion that lurched us into this beautifully wrecked, yet boundless city.
As my plane looped over Brooklyn, I was comforted by the
thought of knowing every house has a human, and every human has a heart. Every
heart has a desire – so try to fathom the amount of longings and aspirations
beating indefinitely throughout our city.
Intimidating… yet inspiring.
And what of desire? This leads to change. Action.
Movement. Controversy. Failure. Triumph. Desire lends to the necessities that
fulfill a different need, separate from money or sustenance. Yet maybe living
here, you find your craving holds equal importance and value.
What is so special about arriving in a city after dark is
that the town is relaxed and slumbering. But when they wake, you’ll already be
present, quietly amongst them. Maybe you left unnoticed; maybe your return was
unseen. But you are here now, and you choose it. Yes, we decidedly displaced
Virginians, Floridians, Californians, and whomever else - we sneak into the
city at night, reposed and ready.
But for what?
You’ll have to decide.
We are back. We will do what we came to do. And oh, will we
do it well.
Are you ready for 2012?
I say bring it.