There’s a reason I haven’t written about my October New York trip. There were no words to capture the feeling I had when I was walking those streets. Sure, I could’ve talked about how excited I was, and how I loved the chaos and the pretty sights but it would’ve felt empty.
Then came today’s #Reverb10 prompt: Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors)
I’ve been wanting to visit New York for a long time and in my mind, I was afraid that the reality wouldn’t live up to how I imagined I would feel.
When my bus rolled into the city at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning, as exhausted as I was, I felt alive. Walking the streets for the first time, I had a strange sense of direction.
I felt home.
The noises of a city waking up surrounding me, I knew that I wanted to listen to that every day. Walking to and through Central Park, I was in the middle a city that has made millions feel alive, even through the television screen but it was different for me.
There is only one other place in the world that can make me feel like I belong and that is Istanbul.
New York is as close to home as it will get.
The way the streets felt under my feet.
From the smells from the delis and the vendor carts combined perfectly to chatter of those around me to the sights that filled my vision.
When your home is an ocean away, you long for that feeling of belonging. You search it in every part of the city you live in and you make a home for yourself the best way you know how. There is nothing that compares to the feeling I have when the plane touches ground in Istanbul.
For the first time in 15 years, however, New York City gave me a hint of that feeling.
The organized chaos of New York made me feel alive for the first time in a very long time this year and I can’t wait to be back there in 2 weeks, taking every moment in and continuing to search for the words to describe the overwhelming calm washing over me.
[You can find these pictures & others at my Etsy shop]
10 thoughts on “[Reverb10] Moment”
I loved this.
Stereo
Thank you!
PrincessQ
i know that feeling well. i have it when i land in new orleans, and then i have it again when i land back in DC.
magnolia
I’ve *made* DC my home but it’s different with NY.
PrincessQ
Such a great post! I have never been to NY but I completely understand feeling at home in a place you have never been.
Rebecca
🙂 Thank you!
PrincessQ
I love New York, and I definitely have those moments of wonder and feeling of being alive when I’m in the city. But I didn’t have a specific moment I could recall from this year that would warrant its own blog post. Definitely related to this, though. 🙂
Allison Blass
There were other moments but nothing that was as strong as this.
Thank you!
PrincessQ
I love hearing about other people’s experiences in New York because it truly makes me appreciate it that much more. I grew up with New Yorker parents so the city has always been an extension of me. As soon as I could, I moved there to go to school, live, and work for many years. Even though I moved to a few other places (San Diego and DC!) I always feel alive in New York. There’s a level of comfort and ease that is unexplainable.
Reading posts like this reminds me not to take it for granted.
Diana Antholis
It is absolutely amazing & I’ll be visiting again next week. I’m looking for jobs there too because I NEED to have that experience where I can call NY my home.
Thanks for the comment!
PrincessQ