I had a lovely, three-week stay at Edwards Headquarters in Bountiful, Utah. But now I'm back in the city. Thank goodness for the stay. Thank goodness that I'm back.
New York has a bewitching effect on me. It knocks me around. It changes me, as if without my permission. Being here makes everything seem possible.
It was strange going back home after just two months in the city. When my frame of reference changed, I realized that I had changed. I spoke differently, carried myself differently, and was a lot less patient with crowds on the sidewalk. It's nice to be back now in a place where that kind of thinking is acceptable.
Now that I'm here, the rest of the world feels like it's a mere hop, skip, and a jump away. No wonder - New York is pretty representative of the world. 36% of New Yorkers are actually foreign-born. And only 44% of New Yorkers are white. New York is the principal entry point for immigration into the United States. Want to travel around the world? Easy - just take the train to midtown.
My return marks a new chapter in my life. For the next nine months, all I have to do is work and prepare for my journey. I see those nine months, yawning out in front of me, the way that a trader must have felt staring down the endless Silk Road, at the beginning of his journey. Until now, there has always been a new conquest every few months. New semesters come every three-to-five months. On my mission, my fate was up for grabs every six weeks with the next transfer.
Those nine months are unconstructed. What a blessing. I'm free to make anything with them I please. Let's hope they're stunning. And that the next three are even spent sleeping on strangers' couches in foreign lands.
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