I left Los Angeles on January 24, and began my journey at dusk in a 10 foot UHaul truck, just as the rain started to pour. I felt almost all at once extremely uprooted and vulnerable. I guess packing up all of your stuff, moving it to a storage facility, crashing at other people\’s houses and depending more fully on the kindness of community will do that to you.
And yet, also rising to the surface was both a deep nostalgia and gratitude for the ways in which Los Angeles has influenced, shaped and changed me. Above all, I am grateful for how the city, or my time therein has:
- reinvigorated my appreciation for the outdoors and temperate climates;
- contributed to a greater level of professionalism;
- focused more attention to and intention on appearance, taking care of my body;
- embraced more local living, using my bike and my legs to get most places;
- introduced me to another diverse and meaningful community;
- increased my confidence in and ability to handle logistics, general life organization, planning things in advance;
- encouraged experimentation in new things (such as DnD, seafood, mountain biking, night hiking, etc.);
- helped me recognize and more clearly communicate my needs and boundaries in real time;
- provided a better understanding of my solid resilience.
I am especially proud of the grace with which I handled the last month, given various illusory roadblocks. I spent a little over a week in San Diego, connecting with some friends and that beautiful Pacific Ocean before crossing the border and taking a flight from Tijuana to San Luís Potosí, México.
Straight edge girl
playing hooky to the world.
Dipping her toe
in the new and unknown.
Crescent Phrasing 