If there’s one thing I’ve learned from living in New York City it’s never trust someone giving you directions. As anyone living in the city knows, you get asked for directions more often than you stop to tie your shoe. The nervous non-native approaches you sheepishly, or urgently, sometimes gratefully, “How do I get to 6th ave?” And while I can usually, in my most calm and assertive voice, guide them to “Take your next left and walk two blocks,” sometimes I walk away realizing I meant to say right. I comfort myself thinking, ‘It’s ok. They’ll stop to ask someone else again soon.’ And here we all are, some new to the city, some natives, some permanent transplants, others building something and waiting to return home, but we’re all a part of this thing- relying on others as we make our way.
I’m a writer by trade and moved to the city to pursue dreams of becoming published… I did not. I followed a boy who has since returned to Boston to pursue his dreams of attending law school. I had been living in Western Massachusetts, working for an organic farm, and finding the answer to what I considered to be the most important question: “Where does good food come from?” The answer? A lot of love, dirt under your fingernails, and hard work. Life on a small scale vegetable farm is an experience I miss all of the time, because you notice the days pass in buds on a zucchini plant, and beds of basil plowed under, to be replaced by the next succession of beats. Monarch butterflies dance and flitter among buddleja bush, and bees come in and out of their artificial hives: navy blue tetris sticks hidden in a grove of magnolia trees.
It was here that I realized: nature is the most supreme force, a loop of perpetual waves; cresting and crashing, spring to summer, summer to fall. Once this realization takes root, it seems that the only choice is to contribute to the iterations, prefect your craft as the bees are born into perfecting theirs, and create something sweet to be eaten, wasted, or savored by the Queen. Also, try to give better directions next time.
Part of a missing series:
