New Jersey means a lot of different things to many different people.
It’s difficult to express this notion with so many predisposed biases around the great Garden State. Some people only know the wastelands of HBO’s Sopranos or MTV’s Jersey Shore opening credits. Other people think we’re too lazy to pump our own gas. Some only know the prestigious Princeton townscape with its own culture, unlike any other ivy leagues. Others only know the Turnpike and Newark International Airport. (I feel bad for those last group of people…)
My point is that there are so many widespread cultures in such a small densely populated state that the value of an opportunity is often overlooked. So often we’re immediately reduced to the butt of a joke.
Over the course of my life so far, I’ve had trouble explaining this to those unfamiliar with the copious lifestyles. In fact, the first comment I got after getting my New Jersey tattoo was; “But why? Do you really like New Jersey that much?”
There’s so much diversity across the state and yet so many people still hold judgemental biases wrapped around clouded perceptions of what it means to be a Jersey Girl/Boy.
I dunno about you, but when I think Jersey, I see the beach and The Boss. Bouncing Souls. I taste pork roll and smell tomatoes. My parents see Sinatra. My grandparents feel Atlantic City and Cape May and picking sea glass from the sunset shoreline.
No I don’t say “caw-fee” or “cah-fee” like my brother (who now lives in Boston). I don’t pump my own gas because I’m not allowed to. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know how.
It is with these concepts that I felt compelled to write a book. It is with these concepts that I felt compelled to write about it again, 2 years later, in this blog article.
I needed to paint a better representation of what home is to me. Because it means so much to so many different people. And I don’t want to lose sight of my own reflection.
Writing eNJoy: Stories by the Sea was a roller coaster for me. I wanted to put NJ back on the literary map, but I wanted to do it by my own terms. I wanted to be understood by the minds of Danny Devito and Jack Nicholson. By people who knew what it means to be from Jersey and leave.
But I’m not sure if I accomplished my goal.
Stories by the Sea started out as a collection of fiction, fierce with whatever it is that makes us Jersey. But it’s transformed into something larger, something about more than myself. It grew an appendage: an annual reading series featured prominently in the summer.
New Jersey has so many great writers and poets. I want the literary world to see that. We’re not all fist-pumping plastic guidos. We’re not all entitled townies and we’re not all farmers.
We’re everything. A densely populated piece of everything. All kinds of culture and disposition.
My culture stems from the sea. I’m a purebred beach kid who can’t go a day without smelling the salt water. And, to me, New Jersey means a whole lot more than being America’s armpit. I’ll never quite be able to put that into words effectively, but I will continue to try.
Until then, I hope you join us at our next reading. I’m always eager to meet other locals and hear what New Jersey means to them. There are so many opportunities out there and sometimes we just need to connect in order to see them. Supporting local art is definitely an attempt to do that.
Thank you for reading, friends! You are my biggest influence. If you eNJoyed this, please comment, 👏👏👏 and share. Feel free to check out the BingBangCo. newsletter for more local insight. Stay learning. Much love!
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