Sometimes your girlfriends are too far away or too busy for a sleepover and your bros are too lazy or sleepy to get off their couches, and in those times, we turn to our windows. Whenever you pick a job or an apartment or maybe even a restaurant, the view outside is most often a heavy factor. Usually after "smell" and definitely as important as "How much A/C in here/does it get too hot?" Of course the view is no where near as important as "Will Ryan Gosling or Neil Patrick Harris walk by here," but few things are. Needless to say, we love our cities. Our towns. Our communities. In those times when you feel just a bit too alone for your own comfort, looking out toward an electrifying skyline or perfectly placed clouds reminds you that everything's okay, if only just for a little while.
Woody Allen and countless romantic comedies have made us fall in love with New York. The Rockefeller ice rink, the coffee houses, rooftops where you can rendezvous unbothered and uninterrupted. Truth is, each of us yearn for this sort of oasis, and actively seek it out when we choose where to live. Maybe you grew up watching 90210 or The O.C and now you crave a coastal city. Or maybe you read Anne of Green Gables and wish for rolling hills. Or maybe Neil Gaiman and Doctor Who and the Olympics have you orbiting towards London. WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE, we're searching for a latitude and longitude that will become a friend. One that will stay where we need them and hug us with its stars each night.
When family or friends live out of town and they come visit you, there's a sort of power that comes with knowing all the good restaurants and street routes. It isn't unlike introducing them to your new roommate. "Oh hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Have you met my friend New York City? Yeah, she's the one I'm always talking about!" You know your city well, and you're proud to show it off, good Italian food and all!
How you discovered those routes and those restaurants will be stories in and of themselves. Adventures tucked away inside your memory vaults for when you need cheering up or a nice anecdote at a party. Your first days, lost among the gibberish street names. Your intimate nights, driving down now natural roads, finding the hotspot to blast music or grab midnight snacks. And then you're acquainted. You'll spend the rest of your time sharing experiences with your city. Loving it for certain blocks of paradise, and getting grumpy with it for certain bumpy roads and uneven sidewalks. But you'll get home, after long days of work, and even if your whole life has been flipped upside down by personal turmoil, and even if your favorite store got renovated, the city stays pretty much the same. Just like you. Altered in tiny bits, but pretty much the same.
Therein lies the comfort. Sitting on your couch with your bowl of cereal, you can look out your window and see the same friendly buildings.
"Thanks for being here when I need you."
And the next day, with the Sun filling your window and lighting the view, it will be there still, to greet you good morning.
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