So, I think it was Freud who basically said that everything comes down to desire–desire propels us forward, makes us move, change, whatever. According to him, the process goes something like, we want X (food, sex, a complete set of lobby cards from Strait-Jacket), we get X, we’re fine for about five minutes, then we want Y (more food, more sex, a complete set of lobby cards from Imitation of Life).
I thought of that this weekend when I drove up to see my friend Lesley in Jackson, Mississippi–home base for my undergrad years. Now, I had some very good times in Jackson, and unlike some of my buddies, I wasn’t counting the days ’till I could sing “Jackson in my Rear View Mirror.” That said, I never really had an attachment to Jackson like the one I have to New Orleans. The affinity just wasn’t there. And that’s why I left: not to get away from something, but to get to something else.
There are parts of Jackson that I miss, though–the most obvious being its architecture. Jackson really started to hit its stride after the turn of the century, after the popularity of Victorian architecture had begun to wane. As a result, many of the homes there–the ones in the really interesting, green, walkable neighborhoods–are of the Arts & Crafts style: bungalows with intimate, woody living areas, like warm cocoons. Very Riven. It’s something we don’t often see here in New Orleans, where homes in much of Orleans parish (i.e. Orleans county) often date to 1900 or earlier.
Lesley’s pad definitely isn’t of the Arts & Crafts style–it was built in the late 1950s and looks like it might have been an early prototype for the Brady Bunch house. Still, on the inside it has many bungalow-esque qualities: lower ceilings, built-in fixtures (note the countertop and lighting fixture in her kitchen above), curious geometries, multiple levels. And as nice as our house in New Orleans is becoming after nearly five long years of renovations, it’s a little…austere? Simple? Something. I mean, I wouldn’t trade it for the world, and I don’t want to move back to J-town. I just forget what it’s like to be in those cozy spaces, you know? It’s an environment I enjoy but have forgotten.
We always want what we don’t have.
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