microcosm

I live too close to NYC to not be “sketching it,” both in the literal sense (drawing), and in the sense of writing sensory paragraphs. Feels microcosmic in the sense that this one city might capture the wonder and woes of our modern condition better than any place else. Need to reread Delirious New York.

"I always write about Dublin, because if I can get to the heart of Dublin, I can get to the heart of all the cities in the world." James Joyce.

“To forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race,” is Stephen’s declared purpose in the Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.

Both of these are about microcosms: the paradox that if you