New World, Old World

In Los Angeles, in California, on the West Coast, there is a sense of the new, always the new. Because people are generally creative here, coming up with movies, software, turbine designs, what have you, it tends toward an opening of the spirit, a relaxed attitude toward differences.

On the west coast, one feels that anything is possible. This permeates the personalities of its citizens. It brings out cheeriness. At rest, the expression of so many people is, “What a curious new event.”

A thrill, really.

But when we get together with our friends, our closest friends, all of that goes away. Or at least, it is not primary to the interaction. Especially with the friends who live here who are from Europe or the East, or even the Midwest. When we are together, we look for what is classically good in life. We look for the care of the old world. We love what is new, but we need a strong sense that relationships are the sustaining factor of life. We hold to what is decent and loving and what we know is mellowing, what can be poured from a bottle. We turn away from invention.