IF you have ever lived in New York for a certain period time, you would fully get me and eventually what I am going to say. Last year, today, I was in the most beautiful city in the world and I was incredibly happy. Experiencing The City 24/7 completely changes your mood and your way of living. At least with me, it worked. Every day, I felt super powerful, motivated and eager to find new daily inspirations.
I was surrounded by inspirations: it could be someone’s sentence or the poster on a wall, the packaging of my matcha tea or the setting of a store in Soho, everything continuously inspired me.
Since the very first day, it was love at first (re)sight. You may wonder, it happens IF it is your first time in New York! However, it was not. I have been in the City three times before, but this time everything was different. This time, I felt it mine, I felt I belong to this place more than ever, I felt valorized, I felt rewarded, I felt creative, I felt myself.
Even IF I seem exaggerated, it is kinda difficult to explain the feelings and emotions I experienced during my stay. New York is so generous: it gives you constant, energetic vibes no matter IF you are in Central Park, on the Brooklyn Bridge, in Madison Square or along the Fifth Avenue. I am not an always positive person, but the atmosphere in that amazingly wonderful corner of the Earth was capable of making me a motivating, overconfident and optimistic human being. And you know what? Now, I really understand those people who after a journey in a certain city keep saying “I love that city, it is the place where I wanna live, I could not imagine me anywhere else.” That’s exactly how I felt and keep feeling.
IF you ask me about New York, it makes me so enthusiastic wrapping up and talking about all the good memories made, the breathtaking views, the amazing people I met and the tons of things I did every day. However, I am still a lot nostalgic and I cannot cope with it. This being away from my city helped me to understand how much I care and how much I miss many of its specific features that I am able to find just here and anywhere else.
Again, this being away keeps warning me about my future: everyday, I am more and more convinced it is the place I wanna live, grow, succeed and become a better person day by day. I cannot think of any other location but New York, which after one year keeps occupying my thoughts and a big room in my heart. After one year, I could not keep feeling that excitement and pride in just talking about it or watching a movie set in it: that’s not possible IF it is not pure and unconditional LOVE.
After 1 year, I still love everything about the City. Love the chaos at Grand Central every morning, love the 1 thousand people walking on your feet, love its art in different forms, love all of its facets from Soho to Queens, West Village, Upper East and West, Chelsea, Tribeca, East Village, Brooklyn, Harlem and Manhattan. Love train 7, love hating its food, love the cinematographic windows of Saks and Bloomingdales, love their oversize tees, love the craziness of many, love the never understood white and orange tubes realising white steam. Love Nolita and the zig-zag stairs on the buildings, love that energy the City brings to new entries, love the Gucci store on 63 Wooster St, love the blinding lights of Times Square from Lexi and Tash’s roof (my Aus besties). Love the voice telling the stops on the subway, love the greenness of Central Park, love the inspiring creativity and the absolute freedom in fashion. Love the inexistent italianity of Little Italy, love the views from every angle, love that daily excitement, love the real streetwear and everyone wearing J’s, love studying at the Public Library, love smashing the Benedict eggs of Balthazar. Love walking at least 10 km per day and not feeling it, love being matchaful 24/7, love the ever-changing store layout of Kith, love the casual and constant shopping at UO. Love not loving the jingle of the ice cream truck, love the Bushwick graffitis and Williamsburg rooftops, love its being different but all the same.
Since those are hard times for the world, I still do not know when I would be able to come back. A pandemic is the only thing that keeps me away from my favorite city. However, whenever all this long-lasting mess will be over, I know that I would feel even happier and touched when I will be back. In the meantime, my mind would keep preserving all the incredible memories and images I have of New York, the city that exactly like me (not a coincidence lol) never sleeps but always dreams.
Until that moment, I keep dreaming about you, New York <3.
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