the drug of moving abroad

and i'm just starting to love this duality of my life

They say we run to a new place to start afresh; move across the country to start a new adventure as we leave we our past behind; “move across the country and hope the Sadness won’t find you, won’t follow you like a stray dog from coast to coast.” (Someone who will love you in all your damaged glory)

As we step foot in that untainted land, enamoured by the novelty of the air, as untainted as the city that reflects its unmarred beauty back at us. We stand there, starstruck at the enchanting city we will now call our second home.

But then the months pass, and the glamour of the place trickles away like dew from a leaf worn out across the day. The freshness dissipates as we find ourselves desperately grasping for whatever is left of that unblemished picture that starts to blur away in our minds.

“Fill your days with distraction, anything to make the days pass faster, to accumulate distance, to get you as far away as possible from the day that you left.” We get so engrossed in living, we don’t realise the novelty slipping by, as if novelty has an expiry date invisible to the eye. And soon like expired fruit the city hangs there, withered and dry.

Yet even as the city loses its grandeur, we manage to find comfort in its normalcy. We realise you don’t only seek novelty, but also familiarity. And we feel the city extending its arms around you, giving you the warmest embrace. The city with its ridges, curves and textures that somehow make it feel so much more humane.