1st
A Love Letter to New York City
Dear New York City:
We have known each other for a very long time. I was born on 77th, attended school for thirteen years on 84th, and have lived on 81st all of my life until college. After all this time, I still have not wandered every vein of your crazy heart. You continue to inspire and fascinate, constantly changing at every turn, and sometimes breaking my own heart with those changes.
People have said it before, but you are a world of opposites. It’s exciting, but also depressing. It’s loud, but also buzzing with new ideas and possibilities. I worship this place more than possibly anywhere else in the world, but it also makes me the most miserable. Which is, honestly, how it should be. Anything or anyone you love should drive you this crazy.
A lot of people are asking why I am moving, if I love this place so much. If it offers everything in the world, is the capital of the world. If I loved my family or friends or New York as much as I do, they argue, I would never leave it. But that’s not true.
New York City has made me who I am. It taught me to treat others with equal respect, no matter their background. It taught me to be adventurous, to dare to fail, to take chances, to try new things. It told me to find a home for four years in Ohio, and be brave enough to let that experience change who I am. To not feel sorry about hating waking up to jackhammers every morning — but rather to expect more, to work for more. New York City, you want fresh air, redwoods, the Pacific ocean, sunshine, warmth, sushi, bicycles, local business, and time as much as I do, because you know it will make me happier. You and everyone in my life to this point have given me the courage and the confidence to chase what I love in a state far from everything and everyone I know: California.
New York City is never leaving me. I know already that I can never, truly leave. And will, most likely, come back. But right now, I am shifting my career in a way I never could if I were in my 40s and working as a curator for an amazing New York museum. That would be too straight for me, and you know it, darling! You always told me I never could focus on one thing too long!
I have to take a chance to pursue curatorial interests along with my interest in animation. I need to learn more about how business works, and how to build professional teams. I have to dabble in everything while I have the chance and the energy and the stubbornness to do good. My secret dream is to open the first museum dedicated exclusively to animation in the entire world. It will take a lot of luck, love, time, and work. And I will need a lot of help, so I’m off to go get it!
Wish me luck, my love, my New York! I will miss you so much. Thank you for everything.
With love, always,
Sam
P.S.: To anyone in California reading this who has a dream or an opportunity for a crazy enthusiastic, hard-working college kid, I implore you to give me a chance. Please e-mail me at sammi.conroy [at] gmail, and tell me how I can help you. I am looking to meet everyone and anyone. Thank you!
