I love New York City. I love the lights, the noise, the people, the larger than life... everything. I have a fondness for the apartment-building stoops and the architecture and the street food carts and all of the different accents from all the different ethnic groups. I've always wanted to experience New York City at Christmas time. Watching "Miracle on 34th Street" (the black and white version only!) every year makes me long to see the famous parade, witness the light displays, visit Macy's. My daugter feels the same way and when I asked her what she'd like to do for Thanksgiving this year, she asked to go to the city to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
No matter how much I love the city, the actual reality of going there always scares me, especially with my kid in tow. I have to think about parking and train schedules and hotels and packing and safety and supplies and weather and money and food and directions and logistics of all sorts. But I really wanted to go and I told her I would make it happen. But when it came down to it, just a few days before we were to leave, the fear set in. What if I encounter something I'm not prepared for? With a city that size, there are millions and billions of unpredictable situations. It was the fear of the unknown.
I've felt this fear before of course. Every year of my life on the night before the first day of high school, upon starting a new job, before a date. And one of the biggest ones-- going back to college as an adult. The thing about this fear is, I couldn't ever let it stop me from moving upward and onward. As much as I'd rather have gone about my daily life stuck in a job I deplored with no formal education beyond my high school diploma, and as much as I'd rather sit in the warmth of my living room watching the parade on television when that fear took hold, I knew I couldn't. I wouldn't be that person.
Before beginning college in New Hampshire, at Granite State College, I went through these same feelings and worked through them the same way I did a few days before Thanksgiving. I just stayed scared and followed through with my plan anyway. I just forged ahead despite the fear. Because the only way to make the fear of the unknown go away, is to jump in until its known.
We ended up having a great time in New York City and my daughter and I are now able to say that we saw the most famous annual parade up close and live. We were there. Everyone else I know watched for us on TV from the comfort of their living rooms. But we were there.
No matter how much I love the city, the actual reality of going there always scares me, especially with my kid in tow. I have to think about parking and train schedules and hotels and packing and safety and supplies and weather and money and food and directions and logistics of all sorts. But I really wanted to go and I told her I would make it happen. But when it came down to it, just a few days before we were to leave, the fear set in. What if I encounter something I'm not prepared for? With a city that size, there are millions and billions of unpredictable situations. It was the fear of the unknown.
I've felt this fear before of course. Every year of my life on the night before the first day of high school, upon starting a new job, before a date. And one of the biggest ones-- going back to college as an adult. The thing about this fear is, I couldn't ever let it stop me from moving upward and onward. As much as I'd rather have gone about my daily life stuck in a job I deplored with no formal education beyond my high school diploma, and as much as I'd rather sit in the warmth of my living room watching the parade on television when that fear took hold, I knew I couldn't. I wouldn't be that person.
Before beginning college in New Hampshire, at Granite State College, I went through these same feelings and worked through them the same way I did a few days before Thanksgiving. I just stayed scared and followed through with my plan anyway. I just forged ahead despite the fear. Because the only way to make the fear of the unknown go away, is to jump in until its known.
We ended up having a great time in New York City and my daughter and I are now able to say that we saw the most famous annual parade up close and live. We were there. Everyone else I know watched for us on TV from the comfort of their living rooms. But we were there.
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