This city is everything they say it is. It will devour you and elevate you like nowhere else. Living here has been hard. Like really fucking hard. Even with all the things we had going for us, at times, it nearly killed us.

People come here to make it, but mostly, this city will break you. Perhaps because you need to be broken to become strong enough to survive this horrible weather, the throngs of assholes, and trash on the sidewalks.

But then you make it. Somehow, you fucking make it.

And this city is oh so beautiful.

The bridges. The skyline. The masses of people speaking different languages and dialects. The shows. OMG the shows. The tall, tall buildings. The fact that you can ride the subway for hours and hours and STILL BE IN THE CITY.

I love not having to have a car. We can go out to shows and out for beers and never have to worry about how much it will cost to get home. I love being a “minority” as a white person. I love all of the fantastically intelligent, amazingly driven, unabashed dreamers that live here.

And I’m thrilled to have started a new job working with a bunch of those aforementioned dreamers trying to change the world, one little corner at a time.

Understood.org is managed by the National Center for Learning Disabilities and provides information to parents of children with learning and attention issues. It’s basically my dream job where I get to talk with experts in the field and work with writers and other amazing professionals who help deliver this information to as many people as possible! Here’s the very first LIVE video chat I facilitated a couple of weeks ago. Don’t let the silly face I’m making in this frozen shot scare you away – expert Bob Cunningham gives some excellent advice in this video!