Big cities represent big dreams.
Big fishes in small ponds, swimming towards something greater.
On arrivial, it´s exciting.
The ambition is palpable.
People everywhere you look, all striving towards that "something greater."
The sounds of the city will eventually become background noise,
but in the beginning, it´s your reminder that you´re apart of it.
The big pond.
Why then, amidst all of that excitement,
does it feel so lonely?
When you live in the city, loneliness will find you in unexpected places.
It shows up in the car when you´re stopped in traffic for the third time that day.
It sits with you while you wait for your friends who only come out at night.
It´s right there when the plans fall through.
To feel lonely in a crowed place is a strange feeling.
Like there´s something wrong. An error in your system.
People everywhere, yet no connection to be found.
The abundance of big fish can make you feel pretty small.
You can´t help but feel lost in the mix.
But sometimes, loneliness is a call to come home.
Not back to the small pond, but back to yourself.
There is quiet in the chaos, when you choose to indulge in your own company.
There´s a freedom of finding yourself in a place where no one knows who you are.
There´s a freedom in learning how to be alone.
When you take a different route home, just because you can.
When you finally find your favorite movie theater, coffee shop, the best sushi in the city.
Saying yes when you want to.
Saying no when you want to.
Calling it the night when you feel like going to bed.
The city can transform you if you let it.
If you remember that although the pond is big,
There´s more room to swim.
Big cities are lonely.
Oslo is lonely.
It´s a graveyard of forgotten dreams.
But they never really go away.
And maybe that´s what makes it bearable.
The ghosts of dreamers past, always there to keep us company.
Maybe, they´re just lonely too.
