To live in Mexico City, 2

I've lived here almost my whole life, lately, this city has been targeted by many insiders and outsiders as one the worst places to live. Unemployment, corruption, constant uncertainty are factors that contribute to the never-ending vilification of Mexico City. It's true, it's not something that one can deny, living here is a grueling and very difficult experience. Not everyone could endure what we have to go through. I also found out sometime ago that there's a thing which actually makes a difference. To make one's life matter. Probably sounds like a cliché, but not one put into practice much, if you ask me.

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Just today I had to spend many agonising hours in the traffic jams, in the afternoon heat, being pushed around, in the big mean city, but I decided to go through all that because there was a huge reward afterwards. I belong to a choir, and we're rehearsing Vivaldi's Gloria, the full piece. For a couple of hours, I felt truly challenged, for I had to go through my most sensitive layers to find out the right notes, the right interpretation and the right timing for such a demanding piece. In many ways, I have to go beyond myself and my assumptions and certainties when it comes to music. She takes me to places I never knew existed, my body, my soul, my whole being are deeply affected when I sing what the choir's director instructs us to. When we succeed in a show or performance, the sense of triumph, of achievement equal nothing else. The sense of fulfilment I develop after a peace of music gets deep into my skin is also something without comparison. Then, I feel I matter. All tensions, fears and reservations about big mighty mean Mexico City become utterly unimportant. It's me, the choir, the director and the music becoming one, an entity beyond ourselves, actually. It gives me renewed strength to go out and keep on surviving like most Mexicans have to, knowing that there's hope, that inside of oneself there's the potential to go beyond the trouble of living here. Well, at least I try to have that mindset.