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Dazed and Confused.
Posted by Caitlin Cortez
on
4:26 PM
Everyone in the city is an addict.
I have this notion that the city can be a vice, a recreational drug for the senses. But in excess the city can also be the onslaught of illness. The intoxication seeping out of the steam vents, taxi exhausts, street food carts, fashion houses, tapas bars, and magazine stands can send you on an acid trip- but the high is rarely noticed until the fall. Rarely appreciated, just like home.
It took an island of 8 million people and endless entertainment to appreciate the simplicity of the place I grew up. It took meeting art school students to realize the endless opportunities my education affords me. It took being treated like an intern to grow a backbone and define my own importance.
It has never been so blatantly obvious that you can't appreciate a couture gown until you learn the painful art of hand-sewing. You can't appreciate the power of Dorthy's red slippers, until you have left Kansas. You can't appreciate the simplicity of life until you are dropped into chaos. You can't appreciate a high until you've experienced a low.
Just as fast as the city builds you up, it can tear you down. One hit of the city won't hurt you, but hooking yourself up to an IV constantly filtering the city into your veins could be lethal.
The same with fashion. Snorting a Spring '10 line won't hurt you, but constantly inhaling fashion cycles could send your body into shock.
While there are those capable of dependencies to hard drugs like the city, I'll stick with the street legal drugs like cheap shoes and my dad's homemade salsa.
I have this notion that the city can be a vice, a recreational drug for the senses. But in excess the city can also be the onslaught of illness. The intoxication seeping out of the steam vents, taxi exhausts, street food carts, fashion houses, tapas bars, and magazine stands can send you on an acid trip- but the high is rarely noticed until the fall. Rarely appreciated, just like home.
It took an island of 8 million people and endless entertainment to appreciate the simplicity of the place I grew up. It took meeting art school students to realize the endless opportunities my education affords me. It took being treated like an intern to grow a backbone and define my own importance.
It has never been so blatantly obvious that you can't appreciate a couture gown until you learn the painful art of hand-sewing. You can't appreciate the power of Dorthy's red slippers, until you have left Kansas. You can't appreciate the simplicity of life until you are dropped into chaos. You can't appreciate a high until you've experienced a low.
Just as fast as the city builds you up, it can tear you down. One hit of the city won't hurt you, but hooking yourself up to an IV constantly filtering the city into your veins could be lethal.
The same with fashion. Snorting a Spring '10 line won't hurt you, but constantly inhaling fashion cycles could send your body into shock.
While there are those capable of dependencies to hard drugs like the city, I'll stick with the street legal drugs like cheap shoes and my dad's homemade salsa.
