An Appetite for Life

On Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", and how to live life more fully by choosing less.

“Don’t let the wicked city get you down.”
~ The Bell Jar

I love living in a city. I love feeling that something is always happening, and all you need to do to feel like you’re in the middle of living is step out your front door and get swept up in the rush of bodies, the babble of speech, the whirlwind swirl of dizzy commotion, the familiar unfamiliarity of new faces, the free movement of ideas and controversy, and the back and forth of progress that’s always moving somewhere, even if you can’t yet see where its heading. A city is possibility given structure.

But that’s living in a city, when you have all the time in the world. Visiting for a short break is totally different.

When I visit a city for a long weekend, I often find myself overwhelmed with things to do and only a few days in which to do them. I sift through the options by intuitively ranking them, hierarchising all the day trips and museum visits and gallery exhibitions and sights to see and people to meet. The truth is, I’ve …