Hindsight

Almost 4 months have passed since I left NOLA. Now I am left with the daunting concept of neatly summarizing the subtle yet profound ways that I have changed. To quote a song, "Where do I start? Where do I begin?"

Firstly, I suppose, I should mention how my perspective on New Orleans has changed. I first visited NOLA roughly 7 years before Katrina. I was immediately charmed, along with countless tourists, with the quaint "Old World Feel" of the French Quarter. Truly this area is what gives the city its iconic status. After Katrina, the area seems strangely divorced from reality yet still defines the city. It is a remnant of utopian past when everyone lived in much closer proximity and had no choice but to interact and tolerate each other. New Orleans is a breathtaking patchwork quilt of poverty and opulence, grime and clean, ugly and beautiful, life and death, joy and tragedy, food and smell, music and dance, love and conflict, history and innovation, devastation and rebirth to name a few.

In the middle of it, I wanted nothing but to be rid of the soul crushing depression that the Lower 9 hammered into me 5 days a week. I wanted to run away the comfort of my mountainous home. Upon getting home, however, I felt embarrassed to see how well things worked. The love of this place haunts me. I feel, to some small degree, the amount of love that locals feel for this place which compelled them to return and try again.

Thinking about the first time I saw the Lower 9th from the Claybourne Bridge still sends shivers down my spine. Although the intial shock wore off, it served as a potent reminder every morning on the way to work. At times it was easy to feel completely overwhelmed and incapable of doing anything of value. Thats when the passion and grit I saw in the NENA staff helped the most. Keep your head down and eventually enough menial tasks means that someone get's to come home. I am and will continue to be in awe of these saints who deal with soul crushing bureaucracy above and heartbreak from neighbors, day after day. These women and men do this all out of love for their community.

Before going to New Orleans I simply found urban planning, architecture, and geography interesting. My passion was mostly fueled by an idealogical zeal which has since been replaced by love. Love of place is one of the most fundamental emotions that humans can experience. I've come to realize that I will find no work more fulfilling than to help communities realize this passion.

In conclusion, New Orleans lives and I will return!