I am back living amidst the chaos of an urban lifestyle, with its ceaseless soundscape, topsy-turvy traffic, and the far-from-ideal graciousness of people when interacting with strangers. There is a certain comfort in blending into all this chaos – only the truly extraordinary will stand out. Most things just get submerged into the hectic, overstimulating, yet apathetic flow of events and actions happening here in the city. The fast pace often indicates the transiency of everything; acuity is quickly replaced by commonality. In the city, people develop a tendency towards normalizing even the most absurd. The proximity to one another and the density of urban populations possibly play a role. Humans observe and adapt once they are repeatedly exposed to novelty. Perhaps that’s why traditions are held less loosely in urban environments compared to the non-urban ones. Strangeness also turns into normalcy faster where no singular normalcy exists. Diverse backgrounds convene in the city and enable the coexistence of many norms, eradicating any sense of uniformity that overlays homogenous communities. I suppose that’s also why people say there are always more things happening in cities. Larger population aside, cities tolerate things that stand out more readily, and the terror of being the bizarre/peculiar/odd one out may subside in urban environments.
I never truly lived away from urbanity, except for the short 10-month period being in a boarding school located in the middle of nowhere. Even when my living arrangements were outside the urban core, I was not removed from all the amenities and conveniences of a city. These are indisputable perks, and I always cite the physical proximity as one of my favorite things about living in cities. Yet, at the same time, I often overlook the cultural advantages of city dwelling – the exposure to more people, more ideas and opinions, more ways of living and doing things, even more conflicts, disagreements, and tension. I have not thought a lot about what the exposure implies on the cultural front. Does being in cities shape the way I interact with people, absorb cultural norms, and handle conflicts? Does that influence my comfort with novelty, encourage an active pursuit of the unfamiliar, and ease up my boundaries against others’ choices and behaviors? Does it really make me more at ease with doing things that potentially stand out in a crowd and attract attention? Coexisting with people in the cultural climate of cities possibly has some effects on how I formulate thoughts and make decisions, but I have yet to reflect on what these are. Enjoying all that cities have to offer probably doesn’t inherently require the kind of reflection that I’m describing, but without it I also find the experience lacking a deeper capacity for appreciation and understanding.
I recently rewatched Whisper of the Heart (my favorite movie from Studio Ghibli), in which the classic tune Take me home, country roads is incorporated and aptly adapted to an urban version (“concrete roads”). The city isn’t the emphasis of the movie at all, and it only serves as the backdrop for the coming-of-age moments of the main characters. Still, perhaps the “home” in Whisper of the Heart denotes not the physical location, but a sense of self and belonging that the characters gradually cultivate. Feeling at “home” is not so much about simply situating oneself in a place, but undergoing a journey to enrich the emotional, spiritual, and intellectual foundations of life as it plays out in that place. As I return home to stay for the next while, I want to not only soak in the benefits of being physically close to the myriad of amenities and dining and entertainment options, but also grow aware of how the experience forms and shapes me and my community. This may be my second chance at a coming-of-age-in-the-city story.
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