So, instead of wistfully thinking of the day when I would be able to sit down and plan this trip, I have decided, along with my former Paris roommate and partner in crime, to plan a trip to Paris next Spring.
I am beyond excited. Just the prospect of booking flights and making this journey a reality is a thrill. I so crave the way I felt about my life when I spent those seven months in Paris, traveling every other weekend, and feeling so completely open to experiencing whatever I could. I didn't have to schedule time for myself to write or make a conscious effort to depart from my routine to pursue new cultural realms. Writing, being inspired, and constantly seeking out new things to do was my routine. Obviously, being in Paris for a limited amount of time and as a student allowed me to commit to the experience in a temporal way - sort of like a long intellectual and cultural vacation. In any event, at a time when I'm trying to (figuratively) slap myself awake and live in a way that makes me feel as if I'm accomplishing things and moving forward, it's nice to know I'll be able to revisit a time when I was surrounded by new experiences. Even though I certainly had my challenges while living abroad, and I'm surely looking back on it wistfully now, there was something about having a relationship with a place like Paris that made me feel particularly alive and appreciative of everything around me.
I've felt this way about New York, too. I used to get this great feeling every time I saw the skyline on the train or bus coming back to the city after being away. A sort of wistful familiarity, mixed with the excitement that there's always so much about New York that's hidden or just our of reach. It's an aspirational place, but I guess I've become a little disenchanted over the past year. I don't have those butterflies in my stomach anymore, and probably can't force myself into magically getting them back.
I'm staying in New York for Labor Day weekend (probably one of the 5-7 people doing so), and I'm having this movie-montage vision of me skipping down 5th avenue, going to MoMA, drinking coffee at Joe, shopping at the Brooklyn Flea, getting a tan on the Great Lawn-all these "I love New York, and I'm going to fall in love with this place again" type of activities. Even though I'm pretty positive I can't trick myself into having that old love for the city again, I want to make the most of my solitude. After this weekend, everyone flocks back from summer retreats and Fall will bring with it a different ambiance all together. I love Autumn in New York, don't get me wrong, but I feel like this weekend might be a certain moment in time before things quickly change. It's wishful thinking, maybe, but, like Paris, I'm trying to appreciate the places and times that take me out of my routine and let me truly experience what's around me.
More after Labor Day.x.
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