Stuff I've Learned: After Being Away From NYC, It Takes A Few Days To Readjust

Hey folks. Sorry for the pause in communication. I've been away. Out of the country actually--"on holiday"--as the Brits, who were ubiquitous where I was, like to say. I actually got back late Thursday night, but it's taken me almost three days to feel up to blogging / communicating with the outside world / resuming my routine again.

I tend to experience 2-3 days of post-vacation blues when I get back to NYC. Could be it has nothing to do with coming back to the City, but I believe it does. How could my mind and body not revolt after being extracted from the above seaside paradise and plopped into tourist-infested weekend subway cars within 24 hours? The difference is so jarring. Isn't it only normal for me to mourn the passing of a fantasy life in which beach boys, bellhops, concierge and restaurant staff wait on me hand and foot and the most taxing decision of the day is what restaurant we should try tonight and whether we should lounge by the pool or on the beach?

I know by the end of this week, I'll have stopped looking so wistfully at my vacation photos and the great resistance I currently feel towards my daily obligations--work, grocery shopping, correspondence, laundry, working out, going to the post office--will have slipped away.

But it is in this post-vacation refractory period that I see my life in NYC most clearly. Before the rhythm of the city pulls me under and carries me along, I can see my life as it is: my constant striving and many disappointments, my stress and exhaustion, but also the moments of discovery, joy and triumph and above all else, even through my inertia, I realize how lucky I really am. Few people in the world get to live and thrive in a city as great as this. Few people are given a chance to pursue their dreams, however painful the journey, the way we do here.

Being away always makes me appreciate home more. I have to say I did say a little prayer of gratitude when we touched down at JFK.