This past weekend, I took a trip to Manhattan and Brooklyn with two of my friends to explore and go see one of our favorite bands (They Might Be Giants) play in concert. It was my first time experiencing what you would call “the big city”.
Having grown up in the suburbs of Central Pennsylvania and being surrounded by farms and Amish people for most of my life, going to the city was an astounding experience. It was also an attack on everything that I considered “normal” life to be. As I walked through the streets and contemplated the environment I was in, I came to several realizations:
1. Your voice doesn't matter.
When you live in a very small town that is isolated from the rest of civilization, it is very easy to have your voice heard. If you want to shout about something, you can find people that will listen to you. You have a captive audience.
However, in New York City, everybody shouts and nobody listens. Unless you have something incredibly charming and flashy about you, you are not going to be heard. Everywhere you look in Manhattan, people are dying to be heard. It’s impossible to walk through Times Square without being barraged by passionate people trying to get you to pay attention to their cause -- whether it be political or for entertainment.
The consequence of this is that your own opinion of anything going on around you will absolutely not be heard among the large crowds. Everyone is fueled by their own passions and motivations, and they want to be heard, not to hear. There are simply too many people in the city to pay attention to what everyone thinks.
2. You can find everything.
No matter what you would like to do in Manhattan, you can find at least a dozen places dedicated to it. Although this is not shocking news for anyone familiar with the city, it was still very surreal to look around me and see every kind of store and restaurant in existence right at my feet.
3. People can't be trusted.
It is completely possible that I trust people too much. I learned this firsthand when I saw a man dressed up in a superhero costume in Times Square. He reached out to give me a huge hug. I happily accepted, thinking he was simply trying to brighten my day.
I looked around me and quickly realized that an entire squad of people dressed up as cartoon characters were surrounding me and my friends in an incredibly awkward circle of hugs, and that we were trapped. One of the people dressed in a costume enthusiastically asked for our phones, so that we could take a group photo together.
Of course, if we gave them our phones, they would demand large amounts of cash in return for a group photo and refuse to give our phones back until we paid up. What followed was an incredibly awkward 30 seconds of my friends and me feeling around in our pockets and pretending that we weren’t able to find our phones.
We ended up breaking free without having to pay any money, but it was a close call and a very important lesson.
4. Beauty can be found in large places.
My description of New York City so far may make it sound like I abhor it. This is completely incorrect. As crowded and overwhelming as it is, there is still an ample of amount of beauty that could be found on every street corner. It could be found in the breathtaking architecture of Times Square, or the gorgeous displays of talent in the street performers, or even the displays of food meticulously laid out to make you want to buy it.
5. Every moment can be a learning experience.
Going into New York City, I had a very clear image of what it would be like. I had seen Manhattan countless times through television shows, video games, and movies. I figured that even though it was huge, I wouldn’t be surprised by the vastness of the landscape.
I was proven completely wrong. The difference between actually experiencing something and simply looking at photographs of it was huge. I never expected that I would feel so small, out of place, and astounded by the big city. Even though I was not expecting to learn much during my trip, I ended up learning more than I could have ever expected.
As my friends and I drove home later that night, we got into a half-asleep conversation about what it would mean to truly achieve self-actualization. Although we all seemed to have slightly different ideas, we came to an agreement that it was a good idea to never stop learning.
After such an eventful trip, I couldn’t agree more.
