Chapter 88: Crowds.

i know a girl who can just pick up and live anywhere. seriously. she has lived all over the country, been all over the world, and even now, is ready to pick and move yet again. she has the unfathomable capacity to pack enough items (clothes, toiletries, and all) for two months into a carry on bag even when she is going to places with varying climates. at this very moment, she lives in one of the biggest cities in the world and is about to move to the other side of the country in about two weeks.

clearly i'm shocked by this behavior, but what really shocks me about this how she never knows anyone when she moves to these new cities and places. she may know one or two people are most, but beyond that, she is a stranger in a strange land. the only reason i even know her is through utterly random events that happened through a friend of a friend. she has this uncanny ability of meeting strangers in coffee shops and while doing her laundry, exchanging numbers with them, and meeting them later for dinner.

this behavior of hers made me question the way i look at myself in the context of a crowd. i wouldn't move anywhere unless i knew at least a few people there, but is that really the way to look at it? living in nyc is living within a beast of people, languages, cultures, events, places, etc, so how could knowing 5 people in this mess make a difference? it is so easy to get lost in a crowd to the point where it can feel as if you are entirely alone while being surrounded by thousands of people. it can be a little too easy to siltently drown in this sea of people