Back to Basics

The summer of 2010 is finally here. Leading up to this point, I have felt a range of feelings from dread to excitement. You see, my life has changed dramatically within this last week. I resigned from my job, I moved out of my sweet house in the Coronado district, I put all my stuff in storage and now I am in Denver in my first live in relationship with my girlfriend, and soon I will be living in Casa Grande (previously referred to as the "armpit of Arizona") Plus, I will be starting grad school at ASU in late August. When change comes it leaves nothing untouched. Although, I feel like my life is swirling in a tornado somewhere waiting to land, scattered, with me left to pick up the pieces and put them back together, I am excited about the idea of getting back to basics.

With everything sort of in wait right now, it gives me the opportunity to look at the world differently. I don't have the comforts of home, so I have to look for new comforts in a different environment. I'm seeing the world again on foot, because I don't have a car. You really get to know your environment and appreciate it when you are on foot. For example, the local Albertsons is only 15 minutes away on foot and there's a Chipotle that's about 10 minutes away. (I can't live without burritos and pico, I am a Phoenician you know ;) You really learn to check the weather, you learn which streets don't have sidewalks, you learn which dogs are friendly in the neighborhood and which dogs are not. You learn how to pack your backpack with groceries to take back to the cave. You don't really learn or notice these things in a car. It's really empowering to use your own two legs to get somewhere. I guess I forgot this when I bought my first car.

Before I left for Denver, a friend of mine asked me "what sorts of things make you happy?" Luckily, those things haven't changed: music, food, writing, community, church, my friends. I just have to learn where to find them in this new place. I am trying to understand this concept when everything seems to be changing in my life, it's time to get back to basics. Seek out the things that you love. Those things will always be home.