Why do I live in L.A.?

 On Halloween night I had an epiphany: I realized why I live in Los Angeles.
 
There are many, many times when I wonder why I live here. Sitting in traffic, inching home for an hour and a half, I wonder. Flipping through the Real Estate section looking at prices of homes, I wonder. Making a decent salary and yet feeling like we are just holding on, I wonder. Aging in a town of agelessness, I wonder.
 
The wondering is bond amongst Los Angelenos. When I was 18 I vowed never to return to this town and chose a college multiple time zones away, but life led me back. Friends who moved wonder critically how the rest of us remain. Friends who here spend at least part of their day wondering if they should stay. The wondering is so prolific that the LA Times ran an Op-Ed on why.
 
Recently my husband and I walked around the Silver Lake reservoir hand in hand wondering out loud together where else we could go. We discussed the ten most livable cities we had seen in a Facebook post. But he doesn’t want to move back to the south, and I don’t want to be cold and neither of us wants to be in a small town. So we stay in L.A., because this is where our life is.
 
I didn’t expect to have my wondering answered so wholly and profoundly on Halloween night in an old downtown wherehouse near the 6th Street bridge. But it happened. Surrounded by costumed Los Angelenos dancing together to a great D.J. I understood: this is why. This exquisite level of creativity is why I live in L.A.
 
On Halloween night these creatives came together to dance in costumes crafted with care, engineered and executed expertly. Every person brought all of themselves to their work.
 
The sequence goldfish, both elegant and whimsical. The anglerfish headpiece with working light masterfully constructed from wood. The six-foot tall Marie Antoinette, with coiffed white wig, brocade dress and ruffles, revealing her dedication to detail. Poison Ivy, stunning…and a man. Even the pimp looked elevated.
 
These inventive souls came to Los Angeles to create. Drawn from locations around the world, they joined this city of dreamers and doers to bring ideas to life. To be themselves and invent themselves. To compose something wonderful and whimsical. They didn’t come to concoct costumes, of course. But costumes  revealed to me powerfully and profoundly the reason why we are all here…because L.A. is a place to create.
 
So while I sit in traffic I vow to create more stories. While I rent a house I can afford I promise to explore more exhibits. As I age I commit to show the next generation what a graceful native looks like.
 
And the next time you get to wondering why you are here, breathe deep and devise. Fabricate, originate and bring something new into existence.

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