When I was in middle school, I took my first trip to New York City. It was a school trip, and I was so excited to go. NYC represented the land of grown-up, successful, fancy people living in a metropolis of awesome. In high school, our senior trip was to NYC and again I felt the wonder and awe of Broadway shows, public transportation, and shopping. I always wanted to get the hell out of Kentucky, and idealized NYC like a crazy person. When I ended up having to go to college in Kentucky, I was devastated. (Don't hate me now Kentucky friends – I am so, so glad things worked out how they did!) My senior year of college, I went to an advertising conference in NYC and once again felt the lure of the high rise buildings and power suits. It was then, however, that I realized that I couldn't fit in there, because I couldn't really walk around. I even remember having major fear about fitting in a cab while wearing a too-tight suit with awful pantyhose. I saw this photo recently and I believe it is the only one I have of me from that trip. A friend grabbed my camera and took a photo:
Later this week, I'll be back in NYC for a conference and while I'm no longer dreaming of bright lights and late nights in the city, I am wondering if I'll feel like as much as an outsider as I did last time I was there. Of course, I know people of all shapes and sizes live everywhere. When I was younger, I loved the thought of NYC because of cultural diversity, but now as a more cynical grown up, I worry about a jackass saying something about me in passing. My skin isn't nearly as thick as I pretend it is.
Anyway, I'll report back from my New York adventures next week.
Completely unrelated to New York:
I am starting up a twice monthly email newsletter and would love if you wanted to subscribe. No spam, no sharing your email addresses, etc. Sometimes, there are things I don't know if I want to put up here on the blog since it's so public, so these things will be covered in the newsletter. It will be unfiltered and unedited, and won't always be about weight loss. Sometimes life just takes over 🙂
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