Every time we return to our apartment from being in someone's suburban or rural house, I am struck by the various disfunctionalities (even the word seems disfunctional) of our cozy high-rise dwelling. Is it the city, I wonder, that creates all these things that our suburban friends and relatives don't seem to have to deal with? Things like dust that just won't disappear? Appliances that seem to go south more often than they should? Temperatures that we just can't seem to regulate? Are all these things just a part of choosing to live in the city, or is there more going on? Could it be that we have never quite accepted the cost of a cleaning person, despite the fact that our family generates more mess than most? Is it the fact that we fill our lives with so many activities and interests and outings that the time left for household maintenance is time when we are just plain exhausted? Or is it the fact that we have filled our space with so many "finds" that we can barely dig through to see the problems until they are big ones?
Don't get me wrong--home is still home, and it's always nice to come home. And maybe, no matter where you live, you always think the grass is greener somewhere else. It's all about choices. Which things you choose to have guide your life, and which things you just accept as they are until you really have to make a change. So, while I would love to come home to a clean, uncluttered, completely functional apartment, I suppose that on a daily basis, I decide that other things are more important, money-wise and otherwise. And thankfully, I have the opportunity to visit those friends and relatives who make it all work.
As for me, someday. Maybe. I hope.
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