Obstacles Overcome; Lessons Learned; Now What?: New York

It's hard to believe that I only have four weeks left at the New York Arts Program. It's bittersweet, but I'm staying in New York for the summer so it's not so much a goodbye as it could have been. However I finally got to Broadway tonight and saw the play "Blackbird" with Jeff Daniels and Michelle Williams. It was pretty great. I have seven more shows I wanna see before I go back to Allegheny. I also went to see the band Lucius with a colleague last Thursday and that was really amazing as well.

Me performing at the Bushwick Public House.

Since working in the city I have really had to come out of my shell. I am a very introverted person, especially when it comes to first impressions, so learning to be more open for the sake of work and relationships has been a challenge for me, but it has really paid off. I'm also much less afraid to answer phones now, which is quite an accomplishment. However my biggest accomplishments thus far have been the recording of my first single and my first performance in New York. Last Friday I spent five hours recording a song of mine and I hope to have it released soon. Then, Saturday night I performed at Bushwick Public House and made some money doing it! It felt awesome to get paid for performing my own music, especially since it was all earned in tips. Overall, this experience can definitely be summed up as me learning to speak up, and for that I am eternally thankful. Also, all of the art that I have seen and performed in the last week has solidified my feelings of home in the city of New York. 

Lucius - it looks like the lead singers are
 identical twins, however they're not even related!

As for solving a complex problem, I would say that I haven't had to do that. I work hard at my jobs while also managing to also practice and go out and have fun, which in many ways is a constant complex problem being solved, however I haven't had something come up that was startling enough for it to stand out in my mind as a problem. I hope that for the most part that remains.

I would say that New York is unbelievably natural to me now. I don't have to check my phone about which subway to take anymore and I even get asked for directions quite often, which makes me feel good... I must look like I know what I'm doing. Ironically I had a conversation with the lighting guy, Michael, at Carol's show on Sunday about how in this city there is always something new to notice, and in particular now that I can walk without looking at my phone I look up at the buildings more and see the rooms above the shops. This is a really easy thing to miss, especially with awnings and signs meant to draw your eye downward.

However since I am remaining in the city and continuing with the connections I have made since being in this program, I won't have to acclimate back to western PA until the end of the summer. I also am going to miss the people a lot. My roommate and I have become best friends and plan to stay in very good touch, however the convenience of living so close together is going to be gone. (Although I will say there are many inconveniences that will removed by no longer living in such close quarters). But I already know it will be a rough transition, for even when I traveled out of the city for two days to get my guitar a couple weeks ago I missed it. In short, New York was my home when I was younger, and now it's back to stay.