Woo hoo for me, it has officially been one year since I arrived in New York (give or take a margin of error +/- 12.5 days). The party to celebrate the event passed unassumingly, with the greatest satisfaction being that I have in part assimilated into the culture that is New York.

What the hell does that mean? Well, lets see, it means finding a balance between neurosis and self-assurance. The neurosis is a preemptive reaction to an innate fear of failure, in effect a defense mechanism to failure. Better to say you are allergic to foie gras than to acknowledge that you are getting old and that your system can no longer cope with the richness, or cope with the social anathema of not conforming to liberal animal welfare concerns. I like foie gras by the way, even though I am a liberal and have a delicate system haha. Self-assurance stems from the need to belong, which even in an impersonal city like this really is the crux of survival. Self-assurance ensures you have and keep friends, as well as ensuring your ego isn’t crushed to distinction if you spend a night in a bar and don’t talk to anyone. Maybe these things are at the center of all western cultures, just a little more pronounced in New York.

So after the first year, I am beginning to get it. The city is a mess in many ways, it is also real in many other ways - a city that has been through so many periods of ups and downs, which if you look closely you can see the scars and silent monuments to. It is a great city.

Categories: New York