2022: Creating my own New York Moments

At the end of last year, I expected growth and transitions in career and personal life, and those came to fruition with a bang.

I did also start a new job, but this year was defined by my move to New York City, where I spent the last nine months of 2022.

I didn’t move across the country to the big city to find myself. I went to explore and tap into a part of me that had been dormant for awhile: starting from (almost) scratch and learning how to live in a new place again. And that I did. I experienced many firsts: hauling my laundry to a laundromat, learning a subway map and taking the train on a frequent basis, and just living through the daily ups and downs in a real “big city” city. I had to put myself out there in new social circles and make new friends.

There’s something just very “in your face” about New York. I always felt this when I rode in a packed subway train, standing shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of other people from different walks of life. You can’t hide from it. There’s a grittiness to it and for better or for worse, a sense that we’ll all get through this (life) together. In a way, that was both inspiring and comforting.

But what I loved most about New York was the energy and that the potential of each day was so big and wide and new. It was the mecca of spontaneity. I could step outside of my apartment in the morning, just keep saying yes and seeing where that would take me.

I had days where I started out with one group of friends, was introduced to friends of friends, and then ended up taking in a completely new experience with them. I bumped into an F1 driver while on a date. I spontaneously played drinking games off a random bench we found on the street in a bachelorette party while waiting in line for pizza.

I had nights where I’ve kept the party going until the sun came up again. I met someone who had a single brother with my name and a mom with my mom’s name (what are the odds??). And on my last night, I went out with friends on a Monday night, to a Christmas bar, a Bay Area bar, and capped it off with a competitive game of shuffleboard to gift away my plant.

These were some of my New York moments.

I’m a natural planner, but I hope I can take some of that spontaneity of New York with me. And who knows, maybe I’ll end up back there soon again.

I’m writing all of this out while on a plane to New Zealand to celebrate a good friend’s wedding. It feels a bit weird that, through the magic of a long flight and time zones, I will have departed on December 30, 2022 and will land on January 1, 2023. I’ll be missing the symbolic New Year’s Eve celebration, but nowadays the years feel like they fly by faster and faster…

Looking ahead to 2023, I’m hopeful to find two things: a place of my own and love (again).