Any opportunity I was given to vocalize my disdain for Los Angeles I took. When I'd visit other cities my hash-tags consisted of the following: #nevercomingback, #laterla and #futurehome in an effort to prove to my followers how crappy the city I inhabit is; that my friends and I should take our things and evacuate before we run out of water and are forced to do so anyway (too soon?).
It's things like the smog, the non-friendly and life-threatening biker commute (to be fair I was intentionally hit by a car on Pico one morning after addressing the human in the 4,000 ton car that he came to close to me at a light), the sad fact that anywhere else in the country -aside from Houston and New York and maybe Chicago- if you need to go to the store and it's ten miles away it will only take you ten minutes to get there, having the highest tax rate in the country and the poorly designed (and operated) public transportation system...to name a few. I just didn't feel like I was winning in Los Angeles and there were enough people surrounding me who felt the same way that it became easy to throw my fist in the air at the city every morning.
It's things like the smog, the non-friendly and life-threatening biker commute (to be fair I was intentionally hit by a car on Pico one morning after addressing the human in the 4,000 ton car that he came to close to me at a light), the sad fact that anywhere else in the country -aside from Houston and New York and maybe Chicago- if you need to go to the store and it's ten miles away it will only take you ten minutes to get there, having the highest tax rate in the country and the poorly designed (and operated) public transportation system...to name a few. I just didn't feel like I was winning in Los Angeles and there were enough people surrounding me who felt the same way that it became easy to throw my fist in the air at the city every morning.
There is something about loving the place you live in isn't there? But like I said, for many people I know in LA, this city seems to be the stop in between getting out of the small town they grew up in and all their dreams coming true; where they were and where they want to end up after they make it big. It's transient and it's been no different for me in the seven years I've lived here now. But a friend recently explained why it's so important to love the city you live in and she's very much in love with LA.
"If you don't love the city you live in you should leave. The city
has enough hopeless people in it who discourage it from getting any better
it doesn't need another body adding to that." And it's true. It needs hope because a hope will produce a change. Not
only did I discover how unhelpful it is to the city and those dwelling in
it for me to rant about how awful it is, it became poison to my own spirit. It made what was hard even harder and
because I’ve found that embracing something you don't like seems to offer some
amount of resolve, I decided I was going to choose to fall in love with Los
Angeles. I began to walk about the city
looking for more. I spent ten days focusing on really seeing Los Angeles,
looking her in the eyes every day, dating
her. On these dates of ours I’d add a little mood music and play my Artie
Shaw & Billie Holiday Pandora mix (if that’s not on your playlist add it right
now). I wasn't in a rush, I wasn't just using the city for what I needed in the moment. I wasn't focused on anything other than the city and
her walls. I let her show me what she wanted to show me and here is what I found:
Ornate architecture intended to inspire, fire escapes that remind us of the east coast (minus the temperatures), bridges with the mark of creativity, parks with outdoor concert halls, lakes with ducks and fountains, churches that have seen lifetimes in this city, pleated plants and braided trees, color everywhere and 1950's inspired walls for all your grocery needs! Even our sidewalks are dipped in love- did you see the tar heart above?? I mean ! And these are just in my surrounding workplace, think of all the rest that awaits beyond this 90005 zipcode!
I was pretty enamored after my ten days and I'm looking forward to continuing the journey. For now, Los Angeles, it's you and me and I promise to try and see you every day I dwell here.
