How my inner Sex and the City changed my life

I like to consider myself one of the Carrie Bradshaws of the world. Perhaps we are not 100% alike – where she falls prey to Manolo Blanix, I fall prey to the hackneyed Repetto. However, my comparison is not entirely illogical: I am a writer, I love New York more than myself, I dress no matter what I do, I often talk about sex, and I have three lifelong best friends. who I would do almost anything.

“My heart just shattered into a billion pieces and then hit by a truck several times,” I described in a post on August 26, 2022, two days before arriving at NYU. Trust me, being heartbroken is one of the worst ways to get into college. I was 18, miserable and utterly exhausted by romance.

My mother was quick to point out the truth: “New York cures all mental anguish – and fuck anyone who makes you feel unwanted.”

Deep down I knew, despite my many fears, that she was right. I was confident, independent, and strong before I broke my heart, and I knew what I needed to do to get those qualities back. As corny as it sounds, I had to channel my inner Sex and the City.

I always wanted to live the way the main characters Charlotte, Samantha, Miranda and Carrie live. Being a single young woman in New York gave me the opportunity to live out a fantasy I’ve been cherishing since I first watched the series. I couldn’t walk past, sulking for months at someone who didn’t want me.

Each character in Sex and the City has a different purpose. Miranda is a strong woman, never afraid to stand up for herself and speak her mind. Samantha enjoys the independence of her sexually liberated lifestyle. Carrie is a charming girl who thinks things through and often makes terrible decisions that usually teach her lessons in life and love. Charlotte is a compassionate and reserved woman that everyone needs in their lives to ground themselves. Together they form a group of four women who appreciate and respect each other. They understand that love for themselves and their friends should be above romance. However, they never turn down a chance to see what the city has to offer, each going through a range of relationships with a wide variety of men throughout the show.

Following in their footsteps, I became a woman with a mission to live freely and for myself with great friends. It meant diving into the high life of New York, accept the ups and downs of dating and friendships and not let anything bring me down.

I quickly found myself with three charming, carefree and compassionate best friends. Not only was I grateful to meet them, but I was delighted to know that they were also single and willing to embrace all that New York had to offer.

On her way to the film studio, Tisch freshman Chiara Collin-D’Augelli often wears a miniskirt, knee-high boots, faux fur and tiny sunglasses. CAS freshman Gaia Palazzo, when not in the chemistry lab, can be seen in all her Italian chic, wearing a knee-length purple trench coat and blue jeans that fit perfectly. Lainie Sharifi, Tish’s freshman, wears her homemade twin-pigtail scarf and eclectic boots to and from Meisner’s studio on J Street.

The four of us manage to find joy in everything we do, from the mundane to the extraordinary. And dating was no different for us — New York has a lot to offer. From British models to rock stars, we have met people of every type.

Attending a school the size of NYU makes it easy to find people to have fun with, even if you never talk to them. I think I was the one who coined the term “canteen crush” when I saw a handsome guy at lunch one day. It’s a pretty simple concept: if you see a cute person somewhere, they become your location-based fan. We are all in love with the dining room cool loveBobst falling in love, etc. Admiring a stranger makes a boring lecture interesting, even if we never work up the courage to speak.

Then there are the men we actually talk to. Whether it’s on the Hinge or in person, dating in New York can be fruitful if you’re not biased. We’ve all had our embarrassing moments at the bar, our awkward moments of a failed first date with a joint, and our “Oh my god, he’s stalking me” moments. But the presence of any experience, good or bad, defines youth and loneliness.. Doing this with your best friends will help alleviate what I call “loneliness dips” a little.

Chiara was frustrated by the general lack of interest from potential partners, and Gaia agreed. What do people have to lose in a city of more than eight million people? Apparently a lot, as people can be very reserved and often hesitate to shoot.

Gaia stuck in dating culture which made it difficult to establish meaningful relationships. While statistically it should be easy in a big city to find someone you actually hang out with, it can be tricky. With a constant stream of new faces you meet, it can be difficult to form a meaningful connection with someone.

We noticed that in the suburbs you will at least talk to someone before kissing. Now you just need to make eye contact in the club. While this can be enjoyable for some, if you’re someone who’s looking for love, it’s quite hard to come to terms with.

Laini told me that she was disappointed when she felt that no one was paying attention to her. If everyone is so hormonal and on the hunt, why did it seem that no one needed her? But everything changed when she changed her mind and asked herself why she would date someone who wouldn’t even acknowledge her when she greeted them.

I think my broken heart was healed when I started experiencing all of these weird but fun parts of life. In a city of over eight million, none of the ups and downs of the New York dating scene seem to matter much the next day.

Among other things, dating in New York taught me that no one else should make me feel bad. Knowing your worth and having friends around is all I need. Whether the mission is a success or a miserable failure, like Carrie, I still love myself – and I love my friends more than I will ever love any experience with a random guy.

Contact Alexa Donovan at [email protected]