How I love living in New York City! It makes me happy every single day. I often talk about my “America feeling,” and I realize I have a “New York City feeling,” too. The other day, I was headed to Chinatown for a meeting, and as I came up the subway stairs to join the throng on the sidewalk, I had a moment of ecstasy. It felt like…how can I describe it? A musical moment! If I were in a musical, I would have burst into song, like Curly singing “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin” in Oklahoma! Or a Walt Whitman moment! If I were a poet, I would pour out exclamatory poetry in praise of New York City.
Give me faces and streets—give me these phantoms incessant
and endless along the trottoirs!
Give me interminable eyes—give me women—give me comrades
and lovers by the thousand!
Let me see new ones every day—let me hold new ones by the
hand every day!
Give me such shows—give me the streets of Manhattan!
…
O such for me! O an intense life! O full to repletion and varied!
That’s exactly how I feel. I never take this place for granted. Of course I recognize its innumerable flaws, failures, and vices, but whenever I feel lost or despairing, I take comfort in New York City.
Onward,
5 Things Making Me Happy
It’s election week. If you haven’t yet voted (I voted two weeks ago, phew), do you have your plan? Do you know anyone who could use your help with a ride, information, encouragement? Do good, feel good—it really works! Visit headcount.org/state for voting information where you live. On my daily visits to the Met, I’ve enjoyed seeing so many people casting their ballots early—turns out the museum is a voting site as well as a cultural treasure house. A few days ago, I met a friend for coffee after she voted.
In this week’s episode of the Happier podcast, my sister Elizabeth told me that I’m a Monday person, and I told her that she’s a Friday person. I have to admit that I think that characterization of me seems accurate, even if I’m not sure exactly what it means, and honestly it doesn’t sound very appealing. Which day of the week are you?
I got a big kick out of this video. It was fun to see so many great actors (plus King Charles!) goofing around to show the many ways they could interpret a single sentence of Shakespeare.
September is the other January; September 22 is “100 Day,” when one hundred days remain in the year; and according to TikTok’s “October Theory,” the last ninety days of the year pose unique potential for growth. Interesting!
My “24 for 2024” list includes the entry “Catch up on photo albums,” but until recently, I hadn’t made any progress. At last—I did it, what a relief. This was a huge undertaking, because I was a full year behind, which meant I was working with photos of college drop-off, the hiking trip in England, Japan trip, family trip to Kansas City, spring break, and more. To my annoyance, I accidentally labeled the first two books as “2023” and wasn’t able to change it—but I remind myself “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” (thanks, Voltaire), because I love having these albums.
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This week on Happier with Gretchen Rubin
PODCAST EPISODE: 506
Find a Delight for Each Day, a Useful Travel Tip & Learning from Mistakes
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