My Life at the Grand Castle Apartments: The Middle
And here's where the novelty wears off.
This is part three in a four-part series about living at the Grand Castle Apartments. If you haven’t read part one, you can access it here.
The shine wore off in winter 2021 and I learned living in a depressing gray structure can trigger depression. Crazy to think.
The effort to step outside bothered me the most. Being on the ninth floor, I had to exit my apartment, wait for the elevator, get in the elevator, walk down a corridor, pass through two doors and finally exit the building through the side door to breathe some fresh air.
And when I stepped outside? Trapped.
The location is self-contained, with a busy highway and expressway hugging the Castle’s perimeter. Going from a walkable city to having my walking limited affected my mental health in a way I couldn’t predict. I was isolated from so much. The only word I can think to describe this era is purgatory.
To prepare for this piece, I went through photos from 2021 on my camera roll. I thought I could trigger memories but all I could conjure was Squidward’s void.