This week marks three years since I bought my apartment in NYC. I moved to Manhattan in October, 2012, rented for awhile first, then got a place of my own in early February, 2016.

While there are many challenges about living in this extraordinary city, every time I see something like this sign at a Whole Foods I think, “Only in New York!” The citizens here are very particular, demanding and resilient.

A few weeks ago the gas line in my building was turned off. Still not sure if it was a disgruntled employee or an Act of God (the employee was fired, so that may be the clue), but we’ve had no cooking gas or clothes dryer heat for nearly a month now. I call that grounds for justifiable rage, but when I asked some neighbors in the elevator how they were coping, one said with a grin, “My friend lent me a convection oven, so I’m trying that out.” A younger man in the lift said, “We’re doing a lot of take-out.”

I adjusted my attitude and complained about it in an unrelated environment. One woman who heard me commiserated and told me that that had happened in her building and she eventually moved out. In the meantime, though, she discovered Instant Pot and raved about its miraculous results.

Over and over I’m learning that there’s always a plus side when crappy stuff happens. This morning I even posted on Instagram how I mistakenly didn’t set my Instant Pot to sealing instead of venting and made a mess. Show my imperfection to the world, I decided. It got a lot of likes.

When you keep your eyes and heart open, there’s always something positive, creative and uplifting to be seen, especially here in New York.