The Unseen City of Vienna

I'm pretty sure almost everyone is familiar with Billy Joel's song Vienna. I've been playing this song on repeat lately, since it was just now when I finally understood what the song really means. It's about a safe sanctuary, which is Vienna, where you can just unwind and forget all your worries even just for a little while.

I remember hearing this song for the first time ten years ago, in the movie 13 Going on 30. It was played in the scene where the main character, Jenna, went back to her parents' home when everything in her work was in the middle of a mishap.

This actually made sense a week ago, when I heard a cover of this and then searched for the actual song (The Billy Joel version is much, much more amazing). I remembered the movie and realized what it means. In the back of my mind I said, "Wow, I should be at Vienna right now." What an amazing adventure it would be if I could just buy myself a ticket to Vienna right now and ease up even for just a day or two.

But then I realized I don't really have to be at Vienna to take a load off. Anywhere could be a safe sanctuary, as long as we find peace and tranquility. I'm guessing my own version of Vienna is just here, at home. Because I think the perfect sanctuary is where we find familiarity and love.

Being a college student, it's really hard to manage time and most of the time you have to be careful of how you spend every minute of it. It's been a usual mindset that resting or easing up is not an option. But it actually is. We might not realize it, but there will be times that it has to be the only option, because we may not be seeing what we're leaving behind. There will be times that we have to give ourselves a break, a time for friends, family and also ourselves. It's called balance, it's a necessity, even if it doesn't sound like it.

The real world could be a cruel place at times, where every corner feels like a battlefield. But at the back of it is home, where family will always welcome you with loving arms. No matter how many mistakes you've made, no matter how many times we screw up, there will always be our own version of Vienna where we could disappear to at times where everything just seems like crap. Vienna could be anywhere, not just in Austria. Sometimes it's just right behind us, covered by all the load we might have blindly taken while fighting in the real world.

"Too bad but it's the life you lead, you're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need. Though you can see when you're wrong, you know you can't always see when you're right. You've got your passion, you've got your pride, but don't you know that only fools are satisfied? Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true. When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?"

A couple of notes before I end this:

- Travelling to Vienna is now at my bucket list.

- Billy Joel's album, The Stranger, is now in my playlist. I'm also loving his other song, Movin' Out.