Conveniently, my dad and I had just returned from watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which had a particular poignancy for me. I think that I am entering into a particularly Mitty-esque period in my life, which is a real gift. Most everyone that knows me knows that my single genuine obsession in life is New York City, and that I've spent the better part of my life either dreaming about living there or actively trying to live there. Living in New York isn't very practical, or even rational. It's expensive, far from family, dirty, loud, inconvenient, and sometimes dangerous.
It's in my nature, which is to say it's probably human nature, to idly dream about romantic but impractical ways of living. I think that finally moving to the city, finally living out that fantasy, has opened me up to a different kind of living. Hopefully, a more complete kind of living.
Are you talking about my parents? You're talking about my parents.
ReplyDeleteNo, Brandon. :) I think there are a lot of well-intentioned parents who would respond that way.
ReplyDeleteI can even see myself being less than enthusiastic if my kid had an ambition as potentially wayward or dangerous as my own. It's not rational to go traipsing about the globe at age 25. The rational thing, in the eyes of many parents, would be to open up an IRA and start feeding it. And to get married, of course.