Is It Still Worth It To Live In The City?

I moved to the city to chase my dreams. It was for access to performance venues, classes, other performers, and more opportunities.

I grew up in a small town and realized early on that if I wanted to be in show business I needed to move somewhere with proximity to what I wanted to be doing. So I went to school in Los Angeles and tried my best in SoCal for awhile. Then, after we got married, I moved to Chicago.

Naively, I thought that living in a big city would lead to massive opportunities and that eventually I might break through or “be discovered”. In truth, the biggest perk of living in a big city has been living close to good airports. That’s right - the main benefit of living here has been the ease with which I can travel to do my job in other locations.

Don’t get me wrong - I really enjoy Chicago. It’s easily one of the most beautiful cities in the entire world. I love the culture, the food, the museums, the community. I love my neighborhood and the lakefront trail. And up until the pandemic I was working events in the city like crazy, for a wide range of clients. New venues for magical performers have popped up in the city in recent years and I’ve created other opportunities on my own. But now there’s Covid-19 and no end in sight, and I’m really starting to wonder what the point of living here is.

I moved here to follow my dreams but no theaters are open right now and no one is hosting events. I’m paying a lot of rent and taxes so I can enjoy the zoo, museums, restaurants, sporting events, and other amenities that the city provides, but none of those are open right now either. I’m fortunate that thanks to my virtual shows, I’m still going to have a solid year of shows from the safety of my own apartment.

So, if I can do my job out of my apartment and still make a decent living, couldn’t I be doing that anywhere? Why stay in the city when it isn’t giving me what I need and I can do the exact same work I’ve been doing somewhere less expensive?

These are the thoughts I’ve been having for the past couple months. The pandemic has really forced me to consider my priorities. It’s a long list and none of it includes living in a box in the sky with nowhere else to go. I’m torn between the pull of city life and the idyllic lifestyle of a desolate cabin in the mountains. In a perfect world I could hole up in a cabin to write and read all day, leaving only to head out for a run of shows around the country for a few days before returning for some more peace and quiet in the woods.

I remember people saying “Oh, you’ll grow tired of the city and move to the suburbs someday…” But that’s not what this is. I don’t want to live on a cul-de-sac or hang out at the country club. I either want to be in the middle of everything or in the middle of nowhere.

Maybe I didn’t need the city after all. Or maybe things have changed and I don’t need it anymore. Maybe I’ll have a little slower internet speed or have to drive a little further to the airport, but it turns out that I can do my job from anywhere. So, if I can find a way to sustain online work, I may be living in that cabin sooner than you think.

Opt Out

Towards the end of March I noticed almost an instant change in the way businesses were advertising:

“We’re all in this together.”

“We can help you be safe.”

“Let us provide for you in this time of need.”

Did you notice it, too?

I think the constant barrage of hashtags and clickbait and soundbites has exponentially increased my level of cynicism in recent years, but in this case I think it’s wholly justified.

Don’t for a second think that these business have your best interests in mind. They don’t. It’s all about their bottom line, plain and simple. It’s all about the bag.

This is part of the reason I dropped social media last year. There’s a need for “influencers” and “brands” to weigh in on every single issue and event. It’s exhausting. They have to change their profile pictures and bios, release a statement, and go live on instagram so they can “be visible” - oh, wait, I mean “take a stand”. You saw brands do it with coronavirus and now they’re doing it all over again with Black Lives Matter.

Take HBO Max. Did you even know what HBO Max was when it came out? Of course not. It was confusing and no one was really talking about it. Then they remove “Gone With The Wind” to address some concerns for a while and suddenly everyone was saying “HBO Max Removes Gone With The Wind” From Their Platform.”

I could almost hear a corporate executive screaming, “Yes, we did! And that’s HBO MAX…M-A-X…sign up now!”

Companies finding ways to market themselves during a time of crisis make me sick. It’s a disgusting, awful way to do business and yet, many people seem to be celebrating corporations instead of seeing through the thin veneer of their opportunistic virtue signaling.

Recently we see this with the companies boycotting Facebook’s advertising platform. Russell Brand had some good thoughts on the matter and, as usual, said them in a much more intelligent way than I could:

The problem with all of this is that people are fed up with Facebook and are probably posting about their frustrations with them right now on THEIR FACEBOOK FEEDS. I’m not even on there but I guarantee you its true.

Everyone I know hates their social media. It makes them anxious and takes up too much of their time. They get in disagreements on it or find themselves getting more and more depressed. But, they’re convinced they can’t leave or even better, might be able to stay on and make some change.

But, if you really think any of these companies care about you then think again. They don’t. The social media companies don’t care and neither do the ones boycotting them. It’s all about the bag.

Whether they stay on the platform or not, the companies are all getting press out of it and we’re all forced to sit here and celebrating them for being “brave” and “supporting the cause”. And it seems hopeless, like there’s no escape.

But there is…

Don’t celebrate the brands. Don’t support the platforms that give them a message. Delete your social media. And don’t fall for shameless marketing that takes advantage of the current political climate.

Opt out.