Listening.

One thing I've always liked about living in New York is the simultaneous sense of distance and awareness of proximity. That there's always someone else around, something more happening out there. It's a bit of a mug's game - you can either be within what's happening, or out watching it, but never both, and I think it's the desire for both which fuels a lot of the art produced about living in New York. I try to appreciate it as best I can without worrying too much about it. No, I'm not inside of what's going on out there, and while I know I'd like to be out at a party or engaging with people, I also know I couldn't open a window and hear music coming from another building or apartment, savoring the feeling of being alone and not lonely.

I hear a lot more than music, now. It's often the sound of people, that much is constant. I can't tell a lot beyond that. Just the sound of people. Not helicopters, not police, not trains and trucks - people.

And there's a comfort in that, too.