Looking up at the world was now far clearer and a lot less scary, but self-preserving habits are hard to break. I mean, I had spent most of my life avoiding looking up for fear that I would be perceived as rude! But in Western culture especially, eye contact shows you’re polite. Eye contact with a handshake establishes confidence. Eye contact is a way of connecting with someone and showing them that you care about what they have to say. But can’t I look at the ground and still be a good listener? Can’t I still look at the ground and be a confident person if I feel like I can protect myself better? Can looking down ever be seen as a positive?
Tag: new york city
Out of My Head and Into My Body: Why Gardening Makes Me a Better Writer
It is equally easy for me to fantasize about being a writer as it is to fantasize about being a plant person. These fantasies of lifestyle and values echo each other. It is romantic until you must edit. It is romantic until you must weed.
Light Poems
This moment is outside of time
Ironic cause that’s what i’m needing
To teach you
Pleasure I have in my veins
This planet rewinds everyday just
To feed you
How can I be of service?
Burn me up, Wave me
Listen here patiently
Lessons entwined in my roots
Plant me within your mind so nervously
Last Call
You motion for another martini and down it quickly. What number is that? Three? Five? Why hasn’t He noticed you yet? You’re drunk but not yet sloppy. You’ll leave before that happens. Catch a cab, stumble up the stairs to your fourth-floor walk up. You pick up your cell and your fingers move slowly but you put a note in your phone with the name of the bar you’re at—sober you will appreciate the breadcrumbs.
“You Haven’t Lived Until You’ve Died In New York”*
New York had become my campus, or so the flyers advertised. In subway stations, at museums, on trains, in taxicabs, outside restaurants, on street corners, I found myself asking the question: What makes a New Yorker?
What follows are my observations.
Thursday Night in Pasadena: The Story of a New York Exile and a Realization of Self Love’s Necessity
In New York City, a person knows where they stand. You know before you hop on the subway if a person is going to show up to a date. Then if they’re not showing, and […]
Everyday is Like Sunday
Things were beginning to feel indefinite.
One Last Time
I was walking down 85th and Lex when I saw him. It had been four months since the last correspondence. This was after our direct contact dissipated because of his drinking, which led to the yelling, which led to me wearing longer sleeves and waking up earlier to add more layers of makeup. The marks human eyes couldn’t see took longer to fade.
Interview With a Sugar Baby
Anna* is a woman in her mid-twenties who is studying for her Master’s degree in New York City at an Ivy League University. When she was denied financial aid, she sought out alternative methods to pay for school. She signed up for a website that focuses on sugar dating, where her company is valued by an exchange of an allowance or gifts. In this interview, we discuss her personal life, her lifestyle, and her opinion on sugaring.
A Guide for the Good Days
The best advice I’ve ever been given by my therapist is to make men as uncomfortable as they make me.
New York City & Tinder Were My Ultimate Matchmakers
There is no such thing as “dating” in my South Africa. You’re either in a relationship, hooking up, single, or in the friendzone. A large emerging category is that of the “blessee” who plays that […]
Stay in Your (Bike) Lane
In the New York City transportation system, bike accidents are considered especially unimportant. The dedicated walkers who roam the streets and nearly get killed by cyclists have not responded to my ad on Craigslist, so […]
Out on Canal
rat poison, rat traps, Ditrac, glue boards, Gentrol, bait stations, D-foam, peanut butter, and a small bottle of hand sanitizer
Drawing Party
“Drawing Party” is Sanika Phawde’s interactive piece that explores the intersections between information and democracy. Sanika created and displayed in New York City store windows posters for an event that didn’t exist. The aim was […]
Do You Feel Safe
This piece is a part of 12th Street Journal‘s series, “Crisis Expressive,”which focuses on why and how we, as humans, creatively express during personal and public moments of crisis. If you have a story to express, we would be exulted to […]