It’s funny how time works. Let me just skip about a decade’s worth of the past and share where I am at now…
Chicago.
I never thought I would move out of San Francisco, but here I am. In 2020 I experienced some tough times and recognized a lot of what I thrived on doing in SF just wasn’t there anymore. I took an eastward road trip in the spring of 2021, which contained a lot of firsts for me. Earlier in the year I had been diagnosed with ADHD, and the solo trip really gave me time to dig into what my life had been leading up to that point and realizations of why certain situations in my past ended up the way they did. While spending a lot of this time in the Midwest I learned what true friendship really was, true kindness, and true seasons. I was thinking about writing a bit here about my personal racism revelations on this trip but I might save that for another post.
I had only planned on traveling for a month, but I kept on pushing back when to return home, experiencing the sun and true seasons was honestly healing. I got back home to the Bay Area in fall, and after a few weeks decided it was time to move on.
Living in the Bay Area my whole life made the shift over really difficult, I don’t know how any of my friends managed moving across state lines multiple times in their lives. There’s a lot of compression, and then a significant amount of decompression. During this transition I’ve noticed I’ve let go of a lot of things (or at least made peace with what’s already gone). I’ve really backed away from wanting to do bigger projects with lots of collaborators. What I’ve accomplished in the past is more than enough for one lifetime and I can just appreciate that while taking a rest and enjoying the good company of others around me.
I moved to Chicago in February of 2022. Being here has been a mixture of not knowing what to do with myself, seeking out engaging community, and really enjoying the seasons (yes even the winters). There is just so much here and it’s been hard to know where to start, even after 2 years. I dearly appreciate that I’m now surrounded by a few really important and lovely people in my life, and Minneapolis is a close enough drive. It’s been good. The only things I do miss are a handful of true friends in San Francisco, and cycling has taken a hit due to where I’m living now (I really didn’t know how much of a big city Chicago is until I got here).
I really can’t begin to explain how much my mental and emotional state has improved between 2020 and now, and thinking back to it myself I’m also surprised.
Life is good… really good.