Why Brooklyn, NY, Was My Cage and Found Freedom in Puerto Rico
Why Brooklyn, NY, Was My Cage and found freedom in Puerto Rico
Welcome to another chapter of my journey to uncover the truth hidden beneath the layers of conformity. Every layer I shed brings me closer to the wild, untamed essence of who I am. In this chapter, we’ll peel back yet another veil, revealing how Brooklyn, once my home, became a cage that trapped my spirit. Here, I’ll share the raw truths and lessons I learned in breaking free and finding my wings. This is the story of how I left behind the life I knew in Brooklyn, and found true freedom in the wild embrace of Puerto Rico. Join me as we step into the wilderness together and explore the power of breaking free.
Brooklyn, NY—my birthplace, my childhood home, and the foundation of my early years. For many, it’s a place of culture, diversity, and endless opportunity. But for me, Brooklyn wasn’t freedom; it was a cage. A gilded one, perhaps, with its towering skyline and vibrant streets, but a cage nonetheless. Looking back now, I see how it stifled my spirit, how it disconnected me from what I’ve come to realize is my true nature.
The Concrete Jungle That Suffocated
Growing up in Brooklyn meant living surrounded by concrete, metal, and glass. My neighborhood, which at that time was the “ghetto” or the hood, had no trees. The only greenery was in the parks, and even there, the trees were sparse, surrounded by concrete and littered with broken glass. My childhood was spent playing in those parks, the fire hydrant was my waterfall. The beach wasn’t a sanctuary—it was so polluted you had to watch your step for syringes. For me, the bathtub became my beach. It was a life confined by hard edges and artificial surroundings, devoid of the wildness and freedom that nature offers.
The Noise That Silenced
In Brooklyn, silence is a rare commodity. The hum of cars, the wail of sirens, the chatter of crowds—it’s constant. This noise becomes a part of you, a background hum that infiltrates your mind and drowns out your inner voice. I didn’t know what stillness was until I left. The chaos of the city mirrored the chaos within me. I was restless, searching for something I couldn’t name, and I didn’t yet understand that the answers wouldn’t be found in the noise but in the quiet.
Disconnection from Nature and My Journey to Freedom
Nature in Brooklyn wasn’t something you lived with—it was something you visited, a rare and fleeting escape rather than a constant companion. I grew up profoundly disconnected from nature, unable to feel its rhythm or be nourished by its presence. The towering buildings, endless pavement, and constant noise drowned out any sense of harmony with the natural world. The city kept me trapped in a concrete cage, severed from the earth beneath my feet, the shifting cycles of the seasons, and, most painfully, from myself.
It wasn’t until I left Brooklyn behind that I began to understand just how vital nature is to my being. Civilization, for all its supposed progress, has become a cage for the human spirit. It boxes us in, both physically and mentally, cutting us off from the raw essence of life. In this cage, we are like animals cornered and restless, lashing out in frustration and despair because we’ve been stripped of what we need most: connection. Connection to the earth, to each other, and to our own inner selves.
We’ve become so wrapped up in the artificial constructs of civilization—its schedules, its pressures, its endless distractions—that we’ve forgotten what it means to truly live. The rhythms of nature, the grounding touch of soil, the quiet wisdom carried on the breeze—these are not just luxuries; they are lifelines. They remind us of our place in the web of life, of our belonging.
But nature isn’t just outside us; it is within us. It is the pulse in our veins, the breath in our lungs, the fire in our hearts. When we turn away from nature, we turn away from ourselves. We’ve built walls that separate us from our true home, convincing ourselves that we’ve outgrown it, but the truth is we’ve only imprisoned ourselves.
Nature doesn’t need us to thrive, but we desperately need it. It nurtures us, grounds us, and heals us. It reminds us that we are not apart from it; we are it. The rivers flow through our blood. The trees mirror our growth and resilience. The sun and moon guide us, even when we pretend not to notice.
The tragedy is that we’ve forgotten. We’ve been lulled into the illusion that we are separate, that we are somehow above it all. But in forgetting, we’ve lost our way. The path back is not paved with concrete or lit with artificial lights; it is wild, untamed, and raw. It calls to us in the rustling leaves, the crashing waves, and the whisper of the wind.
To break free from this cage, we must first remember that it exists. We must reclaim our connection to nature and, in doing so, to ourselves. Only then can we begin to heal the fractures within us and return to the wild essence of who we are.
The Illusion of Opportunity
Brooklyn is often portrayed as a place of endless possibilities. And for many, it is. But for me, those opportunities felt hollow. The fast-paced life, the constant grind, the pursuit of money and status—it left me empty. I worked as a DJ and bartender, immersed in nightlife and surrounded by people, yet I felt more alone than ever. It was a life that looked good on the surface but left me yearning for something deeper.
The Cage of Expectations
Brooklyn wasn’t just a physical cage; it was a mental and emotional one. The pressure to conform, the expectations to succeed, the unrelenting grind of the city, and the constant comparisons to others all weighed heavily on me. This weight, combined with the emotional toll of depression that had shadowed me since childhood, created an inner prison that was just as suffocating as the concrete walls around me. I lived in a haze, trapped in cycles of self-doubt and suicidal thoughts. It was as though I had become numb, merely surviving rather than truly living.
The city’s expectations were more than just about success in a traditional sense—they demanded I be someone I wasn’t. I was stuck in a constant race, chasing a version of life I didn’t even want. I was drowning, unable to see that the very nature of this existence was suffocating my soul. But I didn’t have the strength to break free. Instead, I kept pushing forward, in the belief that something would eventually change.
Breaking Free
Leaving Brooklyn wasn’t just a geographical move; it was a spiritual rebirth. Brooklyn was my cocoon, where I was comfortably numb, living life as it went by, trapped in the cycle of survival, the cage of expectations, and the weight of disconnection. But moving to Borikén (Puerto Rico) was my moment of metamorphosis—it was there that I became the butterfly I had always been meant to be. I shed my old life, my old self, and began to fly higher and higher each day. Borikén gave me the space to stretch my wings and truly discover who I am.
My motto, “I don’t grow plants; the plants grow me,” embodies this transformation. In nature, I found a teacher, a guide that showed me how to live authentically. The wildness I found here awakened something primal within me—something that Brooklyn had suppressed for far too long.
Through this connection with the land, I finally found the peace, happiness and freedom in Puerto Rico that had eluded me. The soil under my feet, the sun on my skin, the rhythm of the seasons—they all became part of my journey of transformation. Nature reminded me of who I am and of the profound beauty of simply being alive. Each day, as I grow alongside the plants, I find new meaning and purpose in living authentically, rooted in simplicity and the endless expansion of my spirit.
Finding Inner Peace, finding freedom in Puerto Rico
How could I find peace in a place that had always been so chaotic? It wasn’t until I left Brooklyn that I understood peace didn’t come from the absence of noise or struggle—it came from being in harmony with the world around me and, most importantly, with myself.
For so long, I’d been caught in a battle with my own mind. Depression and suicidal thoughts had robbed me of my inner peace, filling my life with turbulence. But in the forests, the rivers, and the beaches of Borikén, I found stillness. Nature became my mirror, reflecting a truth I had long buried—that peace isn’t something to chase; it’s something to rediscover. And when I finally did, it was like coming home to myself.
In nature, I found a guide that led me back to the core of who I was meant to be, outside the noise of Brooklyn. It showed me that I wasn’t broken; I was just buried. Nature nurtured me back to life.
Why I’ll Never Go Back
Many ask if I’ll ever go back to Brooklyn, and my answer is always no. I could never return to that cage, to that suffocating way of living. When I left, it wasn’t just the city I walked away from—it was a part of myself. A part that had been lost to depression, to the weight of expectations, to the fear that had kept me trapped.
Coming to Borikén wasn’t just about finding a new place to live. It was about reclaiming my life, my joy, my freedom. Here, I feel alive again in a way I never did in Brooklyn. I don’t need the city’s noise or its demands; I only need the earth beneath my feet, the sky above me, and the peace that comes from being in alignment with the world around me.
The person I am now—the one who breathes deeply, who listens to the wind, who walks barefoot through the earth—would never have been born in Brooklyn. I had to let go of the person I once was to truly find myself.
I’ll never go back to the cage because I’ve found the freedom I was always searching for. And that freedom—my true self—was born here in Borikén.
Over to You
What cages are holding you back? Are they the physical confines of a city, the mental traps of expectations, or the emotional barriers of fear? Take a moment to reflect: what would freedom look like for you?
I invite you to share your story in the comments below. What’s your “Brooklyn”—the place or mindset that you feel trapped in? What steps have you taken—or are you dreaming of taking—to break free?
Your story might be the spark that inspires someone else to find their own path to freedom. Let’s start a conversation about reclaiming our connection to nature, to ourselves, and to what truly matters.
Are you ready to step out of the cage and into the wild? Let’s talk about it.
