The Indecisive Life
8 years ago by
De nature, je suis citadine. J’ai grandi à Toronto avant de déménager dans la banlieue de LA juste avant le lycée. J’habite maintenant à NY depuis presque 7 ans (ouah… est-ce que ça veut dire que je vieillis ?). Et j’adore (presque) tout à New York : la vie nocturne, la culture, les immeubles en brique, même les dingues dans le métro. Mais dans un recoin de ma tête, il y a une petite voix qui essaie de me faire revenir à la nature… à la lenteur, à la mer, aux arbres. Et je me pose souvent la question… comment est-ce qu’on décide ?
Je me vois très bien rester à NY pour l’instant, jusqu’à ce qu’un jour, peut-être, dans un avenir proche, je me rende compte que la vie urbaine a ses limites et que je parte ailleurs.
Et vous, qu’est-ce qui vous attire le plus ? Et si comme moi, vous êtes attirés par les deux côtés… qu’est-ce qui fait pencher la balance ?
City all the way, which is a problem in that I live in the middle of nowhere in rural rural France profonde. I love the sea of people. I love the bustle. I realize I’m getting soft, though, because I don’t love the lines.
A city on the sea ! Having a doll-vacation house on the sea and living in THE big city like Paris !
I know the feeling… I grew up in South America, moved to New York for 10 years and now live in Los Angeles. There are things about NYC that I absolutely love and miss but overall, I don’t love the lifestyle…and the l i f e style is where I do life. So…Los Angeles with an abundance of nature etc etc matches the lifestyle that is mine, right now. Because the truth is I have my eye on Paris with its old city charm…
So…I guess it depends on stages of life that you’re growing through and really honing in on that and allowing your soul to settle in there. You can always move. And, you can always move back.
;)
I was also born and rasied in Toronto and grew up in Parkdale and have always loved the grit of the city. However, I really think that as you get older, and life gets busier that you crave more of a balance. If I could I would happily live 3/4 of the time in the city and the other 1/4 of the time be able to enjoy the space and quiet healing that nature offers up north some where.
I am also drawn to both. I live in the country, but have quick access (25 minutes) to the city. It’s the best of both worlds. Also, when I vacation I spend ample time in the city & country.
Je suis exactement dans cette problématique actuellement ! Ca fait 13 ans que je vis à Paris (avec une coupure de 6ans et demie au milieu) et je crois que je fonctionne par cycle de 7 ans, vraiment. Alors là oui je suis prête à larguer les amarres pour aller vivre au bord de la mer, parce que si je ne le fais pas maintenant je crains de repartir dans un nouveau cycle qui me happe. Il faut savoir écouter sa petite voie intérieure et sortir de sa zone de confort pour se reconnecter à ses envies profondes..même si pour le reste c’est très compliqué (qu’est-ce que je fais de mon tiny flat ? mon job ? mes amis ??)
I think that’s why so many people get vacation houses (once they can afford them). Very few of us can live without any contact with nature. My way of getting the best of both worlds was getting a plot in the community gardens in my city. It’s not much, 500 square meters, a small shed with a terrace, lots of pots and flower beds, but it keeps me sane.
For me…City City City ! And in the city of Lisbon (Portugal ), the city of the
Seven Hills, you don’t have that dilemma .We have the perfect combination of urban, country(Sintra or Cascais ),sea, river…all you got to do is choose, depending on your mood , you know what i mean ?
No cities, they are to take the train in to shop and eat and then get on the train back to nature and property that is quiet and peaceful.
I have always lived like that and prefer it.
I do love New York, but only for day trips.
Melissa
Ah! oui, la ville… J’y suis arrivée à 22 ans après lui avoir rêvé pendant toute mon adolescence passée en campagne. J’ai tellement aimé la ville, les mouvements constants, la rumeur, l’imprévisible… Et puis, après plusieurs année, la ville s’est mis à me demander trop d’énergie, alors je l’ai quitté pour une autre ville, plus petite. Mais quand j’ai un trop plein d’énergie, je retourne visiter la grande!
City girl all the way (NYC born and raised) but cannot handle it full time. Which is why Seattle is one of the best places to live! Water, trees and beauty everywhere, in the city. Epic natural beauty is a short drive away-the San Juans,Cascades, Mt. Rainier, on and on. Now if only people would stop moving here! Also for a city, people are extremely polite in the Northwest. I love that too. I don’t miss living in NY but will always love it.
I am a city girl all the way. I was born in Toronto and moved to a small island in the Caribbean when I was four and moved back to the Toronto when I was eighteen for university and I choose to stay after finishing. People think it’s weird that I didn’t move back to the Caribbean they say « oh it’s sooo warm and sunny don’t you miss it » but I looooove Toronto and wouldn’t want to live in any other city. There is sooooo much to see and do. I love going back every few years to visit family and friends and I always think what if I had to move back there would I want to and part of thinks of course but then another part of me would miss the diversity of a big city.
My aunt and uncle have lived in downtown NYC for 40 years. They bought a little place, upstate, outside of Hudson for summers and long weekends. It really is the ideal! City mouse and country mouse. Have it both!!
I grew up in some very beautiful parts of the world, in deep countryside, North Yorkshire Dales, Gloucestershire, Malaysia, Australia and have lived in two cities, Edinburgh and London but I have recently emigrated to New Zealand, to the sub-tropical Bay of Islands in the Far North of New Zealand. I loved living in Edinburgh and London and lived life to the full in both cities but now I crave the deep peace and lush, green quiet of the countryside, I can’t stand crowds of people anymore, love living by the ocean where I can swim, surf and sail off in my boat any old time I want to, love having Jacaranda, Frangipane, Gardenia and Pohukutawa trees in my garden and hearing only bird song and the sea from the windows of my home. When I crave a city buzz then Auckland’s not too far away but Sydney is my favourite city, so love to fly over there often, it’s only a short flight from NZ. When there, I stay in Pittwater, which is oceanside countryside, but I can travel into the centre of Sydney by seaplane from Palm Beach.
I have an apartment in Christianshavn in central Copenhagen and recently I took over my parent’s summer cottage near the sea in North Western Zealand. I am so privileged, though it does mean my budget for clothes etc. has been reduced. I love my weekends in the country. It’s just a one hour and ten minutes drive. A lot of Danes live like this – city home during the week and cottage at the weekend. Maybe one of the reasons we’re so content :-)
I am a big city girl who can see myself keeping my apartment in NYC, but also finding a place in a « small » big city like Lisboa or Lyon. When it’s time not to have a full-time job anymore – I don’t like the word « retire » – my goal is to keep my place in midtown and find another place somewhere in Europe, where I can be half the year. Sounds ambitious I know, but that’s my plan. And there is nothing wrong with being indecisive! That way there are many options, all the time.
When you figure it out, please let me know.
En résumé nous ne sommes jamais satisfaites… J ai passé 12 ans de ma vie (moi aussi je vieillis) à Paris , des années de bonheur ( me balader et decouvrir, entrer dans une librairie, manger quand j en avais envie, me faire un ciné quand j en avais envie, aller au théâtre, voir mes amis autour d un bon verre et parler de tout ce qu un bon parisien peut parler…) et de souffrances aussi avec le métro, la saleté de certains quartiers, le prix des loyers et parfois la solitude.. Et puis la vie a fait que maintenant je vis dans le Golfe de ST TRopez… Oui je sais j ai de la chance : le soleil, la beauté du site, la mer, le rosé… Mais un manque cruel de culture et de découvertes qu une grande ville peut offrir. Heureusement je pars de temps en temps , seule, me ressourcer à Aix en Provence… Donc un endroit idéal pour ma part n existe pas et il faut se faire des escapades ou vivre dans deux endroits pour vivre pleinement selon ses goûts et ses envies
Children makes you change ( they make you want to come back into the wild…)
Maybe consider going for a more rural place on vacations or over the weekends, I know living in the city can be much more convinient, i personally like nature as retreat not as a work place, people like us usually either get bored of nature or, end up having enough of the peaceful atmosphere. If you can’t be traveling in and out of the city for some reason, i sugest you find and visit those small spots of nature like a park or even a greenhouse :)
I am going to Toronto next summer for a month or two, and since I decided it, I have the feeling everyone is talking about Toronto, I can’t wait being there !
I live in Nice which is a city without being a real one (I mean, it’s rather small, about 350 000 people), by the sea, and close to the mountain. So I am lucky I don’t have to choose.
For americans, I think sometimes you have a very wrong idea about what it is to live in Paris. It is not always that fun, taking the subway at rush hours tire you for the day, and people are not always very open, and almost never friendly (unless you know them, of course).
I live in Cario, Egypt and now I moved to KSA, both are cities that are so electric with energy but I would Looohhvee to go somewhere else, explore is the word for it, I wish that one day I could travel wherever I want when I want, for now, i;d settle for doing this for my job :D So city city city for me till I retire and live in -nowhere- place near to France and have a farm.
http://www.fashionparadoxes.com
Être riche ? aka avoir un apparrt en ville et une maison à la campagne.
Sinon, vivre dans une ville espacée où la nature est plus présente …
Pour ma part, j’ai grandi à la campagne et je vis à Paris depuis 8 ans. Je ne me vois pas quitter la ville où je me sens chez moi mais la campagne, les saisons, le sauvage, me manquent..
xxx
Irène
http://www.cookinginjune.com/
Je comprends parfaitement la difficulté de prendre cette décision, dans la mesure où je suis dans la même situation :)
Bon, je ne vis pas à NYC mais dans une grande ville. Evidemment, la campagne me manque mais pour l’instant, j’en profite en allant rendre visite à ma famille dès que possible.
Je me dis qu’un jour, lorsque j’aurais la possibilité de travailler de chez moi, que je vivrais à nouveau en couple et/ou que j’aurais des enfants, j’irais vivre à la campagne. C’est quand même un environnement plus sain pour grandir et rien n’empêche de profiter des charmes de la ville régulièrement :)
Voilà, pour l’instant, c’est bien d’être citadine en étant célibataire ;)
Bises,
Manon