“My favorite thing about New York is the people, because I think they’re misunderstood. I don’t think people realize how kind New York people are.”
Did you know there are 8.5 million humans in New York City?
And at any given point, you can be in a park with thousands of them, or on a subway with hundreds of them, or (uncomfortably) crammed on an elevator with fifteen of them. The amount of people on this island is insane. At first I found it kind of empowering and freeing to be able to walk down the street and not have a single person know who I am, or care who I am, for that matter. But it's been about a month and I'm starting to realize how easy it is to get lost here. It's easy to feel like you're less than you are when the people who surround you on a daily basis don't know anything about you.
So just as a quick reminder, for myself and whoever else may need to hear it. Your identity is never lost in a sea of faces. Your weaknesses are not magnified by strength in numbers. You do not become less when there is more around you. You are strong enough to stand alone, and it's okay if you like it. What you believe in and what you love still exist, even when no one knows your name. And what's more, there is no such thing as "the most attractive person in the room." So stop comparing yourself to others and finding ways to sell yourself short. Everyone is attracted to something different, and everyone sees beauty differently. Know your worth and accept nothing less, even when you are anonymous. It gets easy to lump yourself in with a large group of people and rank yourself closer to the bottom. But sometimes being alone in a crowd is the best thing that can happen to you. Sometimes it takes being alone in a crowd to know you're better than you thought you were, to know that you are brave.
You were created to be brave. You were created to be right where you are, wherever that may be. So just do what you can, with what you have, where you are, right now. And, even in the midst of 8.5 million strangers, do it bravely.