So lucky

When you really sit back and look at everything around you, it's amazing how wonderful life is. You know? Not to get into a Thanksgiving speech or anything, but just think for a second about how fortunate it is to have a place to live, people who love you, a place to work (hopefully), time to relax, time to do what makes you happy. Life's too short to think about what we don't have, or what we want versus what we need. I'm not trying to preach, I've just been realizing more than ever how great every day can be if you look on the bright side - because there always is a bright side to every situation.

And as if my life isn't already completely made of fortunate circumstances, I lucked out more than ever in the past couple days. After my mini-life crisis about wanting to work in music journalism, but not able to secure any real jobs because of my lack of experience, I only had to wait a couple hours for things to fall into place.

On Monday I woke up, threw on my swimsuit with the intention of swimming laps at the pool, and just before heading out, sat down to check my e-mail. Then I proceeded to putz around on Craigslist, hoping that something music & writing related would be listed. I immediately found a listing for a full-time summer internship in the music industry, applied right away, and then played around online for a while. Less than 2 hours later, I got a call from the director of the company I had applied to, MusicDish Network, which totally caught me off guard because A) I had just applied and B) no one ever calls anymore. So within a few minutes I realized I was in the middle of a phone interview. After developing my typical nervous reaction to interviews, I stuttered for a few minutes about how "I just love love love music and it's my favorite passion in the whole entire world." Yeah it was pretty bad. But then I also rambled about how I want to learn everything about the music industry because I'm so interested in everything related to music. To this, the guy responded, "Interesting," and I had no idea what that meant. But it couldn't have been bad, because I had an interview set up that night.

A couple hours later I set out for Astoria, Queens, to the borough I've heard so much about in terms of affordable, safe housing and young, vibrant neighborhoods, but one that, sadly, I've never explored. Getting off the subway 45 minutes later, I fell in love with the neighborhood. At dinnertime there were just as many people in a hurry as in Manhattan, just as much culture, and even more ethnic restaurants and cute shops. The only difference was the lack of skyscrapers, but that view was overly compensated for by the view of the bridges leading back to Manhattan. I just loved everything about the vibe I got being there: people seemed genuine, interesting, and very much reminiscent of the kind of people I want to be neighbors with. Not that Manhattanites aren't any of these things; I'm just so appreciative of places where I know I'm not surrounded by millionaires-- where I feel like I belong. Sometimes when I walk around Manhattan I feel like I'm playing a game of pretend; like it's just an illusion that I'm walking among people who spend more money on a shopping spree than I've ever seen in my entire life. I love the city to death, but I can't live solely in this world forever. Of course there's tremendous diversity here, but I want to see what life is like on the other side of the bridge, where walking down the street isn't always a fashion show. I love the world I'm in right now, but I want to try on another one for size. I want to live in a community where I can make friends with people and families that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet anywhere else in the world. This may be coming off as incredibly sappy, but sorry, that's the way I get about life sometimes. :P

I love writing because I love what's behind it all-- stories. I'm getting sick of my own voice, so I'm turning to music journalism to get the facts out and cover topics I'm really interested in. But I still love stories, which is why I want to hear what other people have to say. I want to get to know the guy who owns the pizza shop down the street, or the woman working at the laundromat who barely speaks any English. When I get back into creative writing, I want to tell stories that matter-- not just the recreation of my childhood in paperback fiction. There will be a time for all stories to be told, but right now, it's time to turn the focus on the stories I have yet to be told.

And wow I just derailed off topic so bad... anyways, so my interview was in Astoria at a coffee/wine bar. The guy who interviewed me was super laid back, genuine, and pretty much talked the whole time about the music industry and what my position would entail. When he mentioned "you *will* be doing..." I got the hint that I had already gotten the job.

I GOT A FULL-TIME INTERNSHIP IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!! And practically immediately after I realized that I want to be a music journalist and have my life completely revolve around music. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. I'm supposed to log about 40 hours of work a week, mostly from home, and occasionally coming into the Queens office. What I'll be doing: writing music reviews, managing the million (okay, maybe like 7) sites that the company has, organizing online marketing strategies to target audiences about bands, targeting bands about the PR services offered, calling radio stations to promote bands, editing web site content, eventually working on the music magazine, and getting VIP access to shows when the artists play in the area. And my boss has already talked about me sticking around in the fall to potentially be an editor for the music magazine, and dive head-first into the journalism aspect of the company.

Riding the train home last night, as I watched the glittery lights of Manhattan in the distance, it finally hit me that I've made it. I said I'd get back here, I did, and I'm not just visiting my friends at NYU, feeling like I want to be here but don't deserve to stay. Not only am I staying, I'm making a life here - the life I always dreamed of but couldn't start yet. And it's already started. I don't know where NYC will take me, either. All I know is I'm going to keep going along for the ride.