Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the thread of their discourse is secret, their rules are absurd, their perspectives deceitful, and everything conceals something else.
– Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino
For most of my life, I have lived in a city. But for almost seven years, I have lived in the jungle, 30 minutes away from a small beach town.
There are different challenges and benefits from both and I think different phases in my life have required me to choose between the two. As a species that craves novelty, and especially during the young adult phase, I understand why my children leave the simplicity of their rustic home in the jungle for the variety that the city offers.
In 2019, I wrote:
As much as I love sitting in nature, listening to the deafening cicadas, connecting to a slower pace, there is something about the city that inspires in a different way, perhaps because it can be both enchanting and revolting simultaneously. Or because it plays its part as cautionary tale and wonder of the world and a reminder of the possibility of what we can build together: illusions of grandeur and castles in the sky.
One of my favorite all-time books is still Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. Read back on my previous post here for some excerpts.
TODAY’S PROMPT:
- Copy the above Italo Calvino quote on cities.
- Imagine an ideal city. Write it. Draw it.
- Read some Jane Jacobs.
- Journal about a city experience.
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