so the thing with today, part 1
kim on 10:26 am November 8th, 2006 / 8 Comments »
is that it’s an identity shift for some in washington and, depending on a few thousand people in virginia and montana, a bigger one than most of us expected a few weeks ago.
it reminds me of a conversation i had last night watching results in a bar filled with periodic outbursts of applause and cheering when one or the other team scored a point. the cnn set, i noticed, was set up like a sports show and jeopardy combined.
over the noise, i was talk-shouting with a former washingtonian who observed that my living here longer than a few years was atypical, since most people don’t want to do it. he said that, to him, dc had no soul, that it was unclear which neighborhood you were ever in (as compared with new york city, where he lives now), and that’s why he couldn’t live here for very long. my inference is that he felt dis-identified here, unincluded and a little lost, wandering around and wondering, on some level, where his peeps, his real community, actually were.
my conversation with this nice guy, whose intention wasn’t to slam dc, got me thinking. my first reaction in that moment in the bar was to feel a pit in my stomach, as though i were dc and also have no soul. i felt terrible then, because i desperately want to believe i have a soul, and i don’t want to acknowledge a soulless reality in myself.
in that moment of reaction, i allowed the objective experience of dc (dc is just a thing, a concept in our minds) to influence my subjective experience of it. i thought, oh, you’re right, dc has no soul and i therefore have no soul because i live here and the soullessness of dc has become part of me. as important, my yucky feeling smacked of my own denial that his observation, in fact, does have some truth. in yoga, all observations have truth, and it was damn difficult yogic work to feel a connection not just with him but with all experiences of soullessness in dc. Or anywhere.
in the light of a rainy day, i thought about three things:
1) holy (indian) cow! i have self-confidence issues!
2) my free-radical theory of dc. i believe there are pockets of very interesting, soulful, and mindful people floating all over town, but their groups either aren’t big enough, or soulfully connected enough (!), or something, which prevents them from finding each other and discovering and believing in their own ability to gather some girth and influence as it does in fact happen in culture and community all over the world. Many people remain free-radicals blobbing around in an extremely interesting, educated, and well-meaning small, east-coast town. And then they move.
3) black residents of dc. i wondered what they would say about this soulless business.
Talk about perspective, right?
On November 8th, 2006 at 2:12 pm celeste Said:
As a lifelong DC native, it breaks my heart when people tell me the city has no soul, and that it is too transient. But it is my experience that those comments are generally offered by the same people who, in two years or ten years, plan to move away, drift away, leave. These people don’t find the soul of the city and the unique meshing of the neighborhoods and of the people, because they won’t let themselves. The preconcived notion that there is no substance to life in DC prevents you from seeing the unique home that we have here in DC, if you just open your eyes, your heart, and your soul. I challenge you to make DC your home, as you would any other new place. You might just find what makes us stay, raise our families and love this city.
On November 8th, 2006 at 3:05 pm kim Said:
as a home owner here, i’m with you, my friend. thanks for the comments! beautiful.
On November 8th, 2006 at 3:10 pm YogaDawg Said:
Whatever about DC…OOHRAH…the news of the day…Bush announces Rumsfeld stepping down. Yes Virginia, voting counts!
On November 8th, 2006 at 3:23 pm hmcd Said:
you know, i used to feel that way too, and sometimes i still feel that way–but mostly about certain people or groups, rather than dc as a whole. most of the time, people who say that are the ones who don’t get involved in their communities, and don’t get out and meet their neighors, and don’t do anything but work or sleep. i wrote a piece on how many dc residents prefer to decorate their offices rather than their homes because working is considered “life” in many circles here. i don’t think it has to be that way. yes, you do have to work to feel at home here and it’s not always easy, but it’s easier to just move somewhere else than to make dc what you want it to be. and, when you do find your niche in dc, it’s a beautiful place to be.
On November 8th, 2006 at 5:09 pm julie Said:
i moved here 10 years ago and friends in the midwest who had lived here for a short period of time used to tell me that dc has “no sense of community” and “no soul”. i learned that it’s completely the opposite–dc has one of the strongest communities i’ve ever seen. even our political structure–with the anc’s at the grass-roots level, to start–is premised on a ground up mentality. i have several people who have lived on my adams morgan street since the early 1960′s. you definitely have to get out there to find it, but dc has a real identity, soul and all.
On November 9th, 2006 at 10:41 am sean Said:
i’ve always felt there were two washingtons — the political, turn-over-every-four-years side, and the side that the rest of us live on. for someone, anyone, to say that washington has no soul? well, in my mind, that tells me they were never able to connect to “our” version of the city.
(a good friend had this same issue, and he left for new york city two years ago. no surprise now that he’s not really happy up there — too much soul, maybe?)
washington is a place with immense soul. just look at our own neighborhood! people from africa move here, to u street, because they see a place where they can build a better life for themselves and their families. just ask steve, the ethiopian guy who runs the wine shop to the left of the entrance to the ellington. just ask the asian ladies who opened the new day spa in the old d.c. vote storefront at 15th and u. and that’s just in our neighborhood. passions run deep all over this town.
there’s soul in washington, for sure. is it pretty? does it glitter and sparkle like new york? is it as fast and loose as l.a.? thankfully, no.
the question is, how do all of us avoid getting caught up in the rest of washington and be mindful enough to really appreciate the city’s other face? i’ll admit, i’ve struggled recently to stop myself from wishing misery on the people who just got voted out of office. why? because it’s that other part of washington pulling on me. it’s all so relative, really, to the “here and now” that constantly affects my life and my decisions.
On November 9th, 2006 at 10:49 am dharmamonkey.com :: Embrace the Monkey Said:
[...] Kim Weeks, owner of Boundless Yoga on U Street and one of the smartest, most committed yoga instructors I’ve known, made some observations about the elections on her blog the other day. It’s a testament to the strange world we inhabit in the “other half” of Washington, the part where people live and work and play. [...]
On November 9th, 2006 at 5:36 pm paulette Said:
Apologies if it offends anyone but I agree with the guy from the bar: DC has no soul; never had one & never will imho. In my world, “soul” has nothing whatsoever to do with being African American but has to do with if you can fall in love with yourself (healthy narcissism) & fall in love, appreciate others & enjoy life. If you can fall in love, truly & deeply fall in love – then you have soul.
In my experience, Washington DC has no romance – no joi de vivre – no bouquet – so obviously no soul. I’ve lived here for a total of 8 years now. So I’m not a transient observer who hasn’t gotten to know Washington. I’ve tried to love DC but for me it’s been like falling in love with a prostitute: unrealistic, fantastic & posed with dis-ease & danger.
I also agree that the CNN coverage was bizarre. I believe the broadcast was live from Washington, DC created by people who more than likely live in & around DC. No wonder it was obnoxious & surreal. It would have been far better to have tuned in to The Daily Show & Colbert Report specials for news meant to be humorously obnoxious & surreal. But that’s NY style & most Washingtonians hate NY & New Yorkers so CNN in Washington wins hands down.
Just walk around any other American major city neighborhood & then come back to DC & walk around. What’s changed other than latitude & longitude? Why is it so different from the others? The vibe here is so very unusual & opposite from any other American “city” (and not in a positive way in my experience). Who wants in your face carefully calculated monuments when in other cities you have places of real interest where real life historical events took place organically without pomp or a PR campaign?
How can people argue that DC is an “international” city? Sure we have the embassies but hasn’t anyone else noticed that all our signs are in English only? Am I the only person in DC who is forever assisting frustrated foreign visitors at the metro so they can understand how to properly purchase a train ticket? Visit ANY other country (even the ones we thumb our noses at – you know “3rd world”!) & the signage in their capitals can be read in 3 or 4 languanges at least. So I feel until the capital of the self-proclaimed most “powerful nation on earth” can accomodate an international population I agree with my friend who explained DC to me in this way…….
“Washington, DC: It’s charm is that it’s a southern city with northern hospitality.”
I would venture to say that DC is not a true city at all but a pseudo-city, a virtual city, a soul-less city created for the pleasure of (for the majority) soul-less politicians who needed a 2nd home from which to rule. Then of course they found they needed peasants & slaves & others to assist their rulership.
I’ve often wondered why I don’t find any evidence of charm & nuance of “life in the streets” here like one finds in other parts of the country & in the world? If it weren’t for the 4th of July I would rarely ever see people out & about celebrating something other than how their property value has tripled in the past 3 years.
How I long for Philadelphia, NYC, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles & San Francisco. These cities offer their residents amenities which I feel for the price I pay to live here in DC, DC does not have to offer & never will because DC is the fertile domicile of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. I think the rage for $3 mediocre cupcakes say it all.
Where else can you find authentic crack houses selling for 1 million dollars & not a decent public school for miles? Where else do the street musicians suck worse than commercial radio? Where else do police officers work as school crossing guards? What other city can boast to having 3 or 4 police divisions & yet oddly enough rampant crime persists & all DC police divisions manage to maintain their unique record of having far more than the average unsolved murders when compared to other pd’s in other cities? Why do so many DC residents feel free to spit, or to blow their noses into the air (yes I mean without a tissue or handkerchief) & onto the sidewalk? Why isn’t their a good university in DC which is affordable for the average person? Why is there not a decent deli or bakery in sight? Why does something as simple as produce cost so f$$$ing much? Why isn’t their a metro stop in Georgetown?
In DC I not only pay a high price financially for nothing in return. But by my heart & soul I pay each & every day & this has taken its toll on my health, energy & spirit. The vibe for me here is one of lead dragging me down.
Before DC, I lived in LA. I actually made real friends in Los Angeles & made a very nice salary (something which has been difficult for me to duplicate here in DC). I made friends with people who I love & cherish to this day. Although I have not lived there in 3 years we still remain in close contact. Yet I’ve often met very phony pretentious extremely narcissistic manipulative people here in DC. The kind everyone warned me that I’d meet in LA. That was NOT my experience. The “call me we’ll do lunch” characters I only seem to meet here. In DC I tend to attract soul-less individuals who base their relationship with me solely on what I might be able to do for them – which ain’t much – which deftly illustrates why I cannot make friends (even false ones).
I would also say that due to the immense amount of non-profits, charities etc…to be found in DC there is a massive poverty mentality which has been mis-taken for a healthy beneficient philanthropic mindset. Whereas the other major American cities are proud of their success & feel free to display their wealth which enables them to generate & attract more of the good life. But in DC there is this love of poverty & an overwhelming “do gooder” vibe &/or a “we’d love to pay you more but……” which imho feeds into DC’s poverty consciousness. So DC as a city remains financially poor, impoverished spiritually & energetically dull.
Giving people money & freebies is not the proper way to (in the long run) help people who are poor – it merely creates more lack. History has proven this fact. Offering people low wages, especially in an expensive area like DC (as all these non-profits do without batting an eyelash), is not only insulting to those employees but is simply creating a new branch of poor workers struggling to remain middle class. But wow! This new lower middle class of poor is actually educated! Why people allow themselves to work for so little money in organizations which make bombastic hypercritical claims that their mission is to alleviate poverty & suffering in the world is something which I find extremely humorous but sickening to the core.
People with soul do not have issues with power or money. They enjoy working with others, cooperating, sharing, expressing their generosity & appreciation & cultivating wealth & happiness for all. They do not perceive others in a peversely competitive way. The power which, I feel is expressed by this city (due to the overwhelming amount of government officials & politically affiliated businesses), is actually an expression rooted in a peverse belief that they are losing power, or will lose power if they do a-b-c (you know like for example raise the minimum wage, give their residents healthcare & affordable housing, excellent education or good forbid permit a Native American, a woman or Jewish American to be President?). Who else is extremely selfish & boasts & brags about how powerful & “right” they are except a full-blown narcissistic neurotic who fears being toppled? How can someone really love whose very foundation is that of fear & lack?
Then there is this individual pervasive grandiose sense of self & feeling of entitlement & superiority (classist snobbery at its finest) many DC residents unabashedly exhibit which is connected to poverty consciousness but from another angle entirely. These are the DC residents who are abundantly blessed with wealth & financial security but everywhere they go they complain, criticize, bully & harrass in order to get things for free or next to nothing. Is it any wonder poverty & soul-lessness cling to DC?
A few years ago, many in the DC Council asked for their consituents to vote “yes” to the building of a new stadium. They made fantastic claims that it would generate money & more job opportunities for DC residents. Really? From what I understand, most of the jobs which are to be offered at the stadium will be minimum wage. Is that really an intelligent, sound & creative way to generate money for the District & for its residents? I was wholeheartedly against this; voted no but it passed anyway. Is DC really going to be a better city with the new stadium? DC officials are always whining how they don’t have any money yet they managed to scrounge together over 600 million dollars to fund this massive project? Yet there isn’t any money to improve DC’s disasterous public school system? What soul-less better way to ensure an entire ready made minimum wage population than by offering your children substandard education? I know a few people without souls on the Hill & K St definitely made a lucrative killing when this bill passed but if history offers us any clue to our future, no one with a soul will profit from this venture.
Then there is the fact that we residents pay federal taxes without representation. This is another issue which I firmly believe is a prime reason for why DC remains an impoverished soul-less place – Congress demands & takes our money & then supposedly “manages” the DC budget & feels absolutely no shame in offering us nothing in return except to regularly increase their own exorbitant salaries. In my world this is plainly defined as ‘theft’.
Hmmmmmm……I wonder????? DC’s population is over 70% registered Democrats which would give 2 extra seats in the House if DC were ever given statehood. How charming that our license plates lament “Taxation Without Representation”. The last, or one of the last legislations signed by President Clinton. Update: a screwdriver was quickly found to remove & replace the rebellious plates on the Presidential limo with shiny new blank DC tags. This was the very first decision Bush made when he came into office. Oh that & the realization Jesus speaks to him.
In contrast, DC residents have no voice – even if we too believe Jesus is speaking to us. So perhaps voicelessness = soul-lessness or is in someway a gateway to becoming soul-less.
In any other country they would riot, protest & go on strike to be heard & to ensure positive changes for their future. But we remain silent as our souls dry & shrivel up. What does it matter? When I can go to Restoration Hardware & then Cheesecake Factory to make myself feel better.
And so that for me is DC. I urge everyone to extend your journey beyond American cities & honestly & objectively compare & contrast DC to the capitals of other nations. If someone can explain to me why Rome, Paris, Berlin, Madrid, London & Buenos Aires are not more exciting, vibrant, healthier, full of soul, safer, far more cultured and even in a few cases much more affordable and fun places to live & to express love & be loved – I would really enjoy hearing their views if only to give me a glimpse of hope that I too can live here soulfully & meaningfully in health, harmony & happiness.
For now, I will continue to plan my escape with soul while I still got one.