In the weeks leading up to Letrástica, I’ve stayed put in familiar routines. I’ve spent a few afternoons staring at the screen; ventured out into the city to see a movie or musical; and gathered my favorite people together to hike through autumn leaves upstate and celebrate a Canadian thanksgiving (spoilers: I’m not Canadian.)
I haven’t made any major headlines for myself. Instead, one day turned to one week, then two weeks, and at some point I started to get a bit anxious. I hadn’t been writing; hadn’t pulled out a pen to sketch for more than a few minutes at a time; hadn’t made progress on the mandarin language videos I bought almost six years ago.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I needed to be productive: to make use of the limited time I had and come out of it with something substantial and meaningful at the end of it.
I’m often asked whether I’ll be in NYC long-term, and my answer has been the same in the last year. I’ve developed a lot of close friendships and gotten involved with different communities in the last few years, and the more entrenched I get, the harder it is for me to imagining leaving it all behind. I get different perspectives from people living through different versions of life in NYC, and in the days when I start to feel drained, I’ll often talk to someone at what feels like the perfect time.
In this case, I was comforted by someone who had spent most of the last year unemployed. Part of their desire to step away from work was to able to sit fully in the idea of being wholly unproductive — to be okay with the idea that, while breaks are often a chance to focus on that one project you’ve always wanted to do, it’s also a license to focus on, well, nothing in particular.
That’s not a bad thing when you’ve been working for seven years straight. Although I haven’t progressed towards the daily goals I set out for myself so far, I find myself actively appreciating the daily moments that I have without the anxiety of an impending workday. Whether I’m at the library or making bead art in a friend’s living room, my time feels less constrained and my brain is fully present and at peace.
My sister doesn’t get a ton of time off of work each year, so it’s always an event when the family is together in the same place. This year, she flew back to NYC since she won’t be able to join us for traveling abroad.
We celebrated our parents’ retirements this year with trips to Broadway, to see the Back to the Future musical, and to Citifield Stadium, to watch the Mets in the national league championship series (NLCS). Sports games were often playing on the radio and on TV growing up, and it’s always been a safe, casual topic for my dad to riff on in the car. Despite that, we never went to sports games together, so this was a special occasion 😇
This ended up being the Mets’ last winning game in a season that was intended for rebuilding. The crowd was sold out and the mood was contagious. We also saw the Temptations perform, so, you know.
Family gatherings also resurfaced this year, and we went out to Long Island for a small backyard potluck surrounded by a large garden — including peach, pear, and jujube trees; korean red peppers; and jasmine and ceylon leaves.
Attack on Titan, the Musical ———————————————- Loved loved loved this. A bit campy, great use of technology, and full of great choreography from breakdancing champion Go Ueki. Also titan balloon arms and lots and lots of cheering from the audience.
Back to the Future, the Musical —————————————————- Also goofy and campy, but faithful to the movies and full of fun numbers and playful attitudes.