1. You feel like you're always giving 110% without getting much in return.
2. (Especially if you're pursuing a career in the arts.)
3. Your life ambitions feel more fragile than ever, thanks to how hard it is to find a job.
4. The gap between minimum wage and the cost of living leaves you consistently disillusioned.
5. In fact, money is pretty much always on your mind.
6. And even if you have tons of money, the plethora of entertainment options in the city can make you feel overwhelmed.
7. With its constant busyness and vast population, the city easily makes you feel entirely insignificant.
8. And between earning enough to pay for your home, having a relationship, and seeing your friends, it truly feels like chaos reigns supreme.
9. You both desire and regret $7 desserts.
10. Finding a steady romantic partner is difficult, especially with the ever-prevailing hookup culture.
11. You either smoke, or have strongly considered it.
Especially when you're stressed, which is probably like 95% of the time.
12. Most people see your love for New York as a phase that will go away once you get older.
13. You yourself sometimes have trouble remembering what on earth made you think a life in New York was going to be fulfilling.
14. You see NYC as always taunting you and trying to see if you'll actually move.
15. You even wonder if New York is just a training ground -- if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
16. So you've thought about moving elsewhere because, with how impossibly small you feel in NYC, maybe you could flourish in a different city.
17. But just when you start considering a life in the Catskills, New York reminds you why you stay.
18. Like: no matter what the occasion, or what time, New York is ALWAYS ready to party with you.
19. And it's been the place great artists and thinkers have praised for helping them figure out who they are.
Despite how tough it was.
20. Also, weed is ridiculously easy to get.
21. Living in New York feels like living in a different dimension altogether.
And it looks crazy to anyone who's not in it.
22. While it may sound egotistic, the truth is, there is actually no city quite like it.
23. Sure, it makes you feel like a lost child half the time, but New York City will always have someplace for you to go to feel happy.
24. So though sometimes you feel like this about New York City:
25. Deep down, you will always be drawn to New York, despite its flaws.
