After about a 2 month hiatus - I'm back.
I've been waiting for most of my adult life to write this story - but more importantly, to live this life. I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to put it down on "paper" - but here it is.
In the last two months I've started a new job and picked up everything to move to Washington, DC. It was what I thought I always would do post graduation - but when the time came, I didn't have the courage to do it. I settled for a job and carriage house in a town I knew and loved. It was easy and it was comfortable. I was surrounded by people that loved me, knew me, believed in me and my capabilities and it was good. But something was eating at me during that 4 month stint. I felt too still, too comfortable, too settled. I spent evenings looking up plane tickets, figuring out my next steps, itching for a new experience to the point of constant anxious moments, sleepless nights, and a general unhappiness with my mental well being. The weirdest part was the terror I felt living alone in a sleepy small town in the middle of a corn field - a feeling I had never felt living completely alone in a city of 1 million 4,000 miles away from anyone I knew. I tried it all - running, reading, writing, tea instead of coffee, detoxing, more water - there was something that unsettled me about being in this small town.
Then one day, the universe sent an email asking if I would be interested in an open position.
The 24 hours of deciding to respond and accepting that I had, were filled with more anxiety, pain, and discomfort than I've felt, maybe ever. I couldn't stop thinking of what could come from that email, the chances I would have to take, the risks, the money, the people that I would hurt, leaving the love and comfort of my friends to go chase a dream. A great friend reminded me that I was forgetting the most important thing in this equation - myself. Once the process began I have never been more excited and sure of my capabilities, my skills, and my direction. Within 2 weeks, I had a new job, a new apartment, drove a U-Haul for the first time, and moved to the big city with my new craigslist roomie (who rocks.)
I feel like I'm finally pursuing my passion - really chasing the dream. I'm finally back in the political world in DC and I love every minute of it.
I'm really liking being uncomfortable here - I know I'm growing. I like the pace of the city, the walks to and from work that I use to clear my head and listen to music, metro rides - all of it. I like that there is so much still to uncover around the corner or downtown. I'm here and it rocks. It's a challenge every single day but it's usually a good one.
Cheers to my new life in DC - excited to share more of it with you!
