The distances between the stars seem brief by contrast to the distances between each of us and his fellows.(Science fiction writer Disch committed suicide by gunshot on July 4, 2008 in his apartment in Manhattan. )
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| Aerial view of Manhattan (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Urban Canyons
JoJo from Tahoma Beadworks & Photography when considering the question What Does Manhattan Say to You? offered,
Frenetic, loud, harsh, crowded, traffic, urban canyon (because no sunlight reaches the streets). Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy.
In a similar vein Patricia at Patricia's Place said, "Manhattan...cavernous, lonely, restless. Those are first words that came to mind."
It's funny how such a busy populated place can feel "lonely". It's the story of modern society in many ways. So many films set in Manhattan explore that sense of alienation that leaves many with a sense of being lost in a gritty world where few people seem to care about anyone else. This is the serious side of the human condition in a big city such as Manhattan.
A New York state of mind can be many things to many people, but for those who have lived there most or all of their lives to think of New York when they are away from it is not unlike Dorothy in Oz thinking back on her Kansas home. For others who come to New York for the first time or for a return visit, their mindset might be one of excitement or apprehension. Some are dazzled while others are bewildered. Some go to the city with hope in their heart while others cautiously trod the streets with fear or sadness in their hearts.
Being a city of so many people, Manhattan is a place of a myriad of emotions. Ups and downs to go along with the skyscrapers and subways. There's someone for everyone and sometimes no one when you need someone the most. Plenty to see and do and you don't always have to have a lot of money to enjoy it all, but having money in the city sure makes life easier. Homeless or poor in Manhattan is not what you want to be, yet there are plenty of people who seem to subsist this way on the city streets.
Stepping out onto the busy sidewalks during the height of the work day and you might get carried away like being caught up in the white water rapids rushing through a deep canyon. You fight the current to find a safe haven to keep yourself from going under. On the sidelines you watch the flow of the river of humanity. Look up to see the hard concrete and steel walls that rise upward.
This is indeed an urban canyon. A place that ebbs and flows, quickens and slows, but ultimately never stands still. "Who are all these people," the stranger to the city might wonder and yet that stranger remains a stranger. We are all alone together in this cavernous cacophony of the city. Lonely while never alone. Manhattan holds you in its insouciant grasp.
Have you ever been lost in a city? Have you ever felt lost in a crowd? What do you do to pull yourself out of feeling lonely?
Stepping out onto the busy sidewalks during the height of the work day and you might get carried away like being caught up in the white water rapids rushing through a deep canyon. You fight the current to find a safe haven to keep yourself from going under. On the sidelines you watch the flow of the river of humanity. Look up to see the hard concrete and steel walls that rise upward.
This is indeed an urban canyon. A place that ebbs and flows, quickens and slows, but ultimately never stands still. "Who are all these people," the stranger to the city might wonder and yet that stranger remains a stranger. We are all alone together in this cavernous cacophony of the city. Lonely while never alone. Manhattan holds you in its insouciant grasp.
Have you ever been lost in a city? Have you ever felt lost in a crowd? What do you do to pull yourself out of feeling lonely?
