Augusten Burroughs (author of Running with Scissors) answered New York Magazine's 21 questions and this answer really stuck with me:
What makes someone a New Yorker?
If you visit the country and find you cannot sleep because the silence you have heard so much about is actually just a shifting of all auditory awareness to the circulatory system in your head area, and in the morning when you are fatigued and raw, you realize that yes, you would trade the life of your sibling for a ten-minute fix of midtown traffic, you are a New Yorker.'
I realized that this used to be me. I wanted the fast paced, live fast/die young, work hard play hard, bright lights, big city, running on empty, 24/7 thrill ride.
And then I got burnt out.
And now, as I get ready to leave for my boyfriend's parents' house in the country, a sense of calm comes over me. I look forward to pressing the slow motion button and taking in the the smells and sounds of nature. I find more and more that when I leave NYC for the country, I don't want to come back. I'm relaxed, my brain moves slower, my muscles aren't tense, I feel like I'm finally in my natural state. Now don't get me wrong, I love NYC. The last 1.5 years has been one of the greatest, most exciting and influential experiences of my life.
But like I said I'm burnt out. I'm ready to relax for a while. To take it slow. I'm ready for California.
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