State of the Union

As of tomorrow, I will have been in DC for two months.  Two months.  Wow.  Time sure has gone by fast.  Two months of school, two months of learning to adjust to a new city, two months in my apartment.  In some ways it feels like home - I have a wonderful place to come home to at the end of every day, I have a coffee shop where I have become a regular (& found my beverage), I have come to navigate the busy city streets and public transportation as if it were the back of my hand.  In some ways, too, it still feels like a dream - seasonal weather is here, I get to walk by famous landmarks on my way to class and home, and I have had countless adventures with my college friends that remind me of the beauty of lasting friendships.  At the same time, though, there are these things, these sometimes subtle and other times not-so-subtle reminders that this is indeed real life and not everything is as rose-colored as it seems - plans get cancelled, days are spent studying for exams and writing papers, and the ever-present feeling of loneliness fails to subside.  While I often put on my rose-colored glasses and make this blog seem as positive as I can, there are times that just cannot be captured by a happy memory or moment.  Because that's life, and there's nothing we can do to control it.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, if you couldn't tell.  And while I agree with Les Mis in that "there are words better unheard, better unsaid," sometimes there are words that we have to say in order to get our point across.  And in no better way could my thoughts right now be summed up than an article posted by a dear friend of mine a while ago; I can't remember if it was on twitter, Facebook, or just something I saw in passing.  But I saved it and read it from time to time as a reminder to myself that these emotions I am feeling and these experiences I am experiencing are all normal and should be considered okay.  You can read the content of the article here, but I wanted to share some of the lines that really resonate most with me:

"The reality of moving to a new place by yourself is that it's incredibly difficult. It's uncomfortable, expensive, challenging, and oftentimes extremely lonely. You will have days you question your move and bask in the loneliness. You will have days you want nothing more than the familiarity of home- of friends and family and comfort. You will have days and wonder if it will ever truly feel like home and be impatient as to when everything will finally fall together.

But here's also the reality of moving to a new place by yourself. Those days that you wonder about and agonize over will come. Slowly, but surely you will start to meet people. People who come from all over the country, full of stories and diverse beliefs you haven't been exposed to before. Friendships will blossom and loneliness will begin to fade. You will combat those questions of belonging with an overwhelming peace about being on the right track of your life, even though you may not see the entire picture now. And slowly, your new adventure will morph you into your new life-as every day becomes a fresh way of living.

The truth is that moving to a new place by yourself is one of the best things you will ever do. Moving somewhere new challenges you in ways you never knew were possible before. You learn things about yourself that you may have never been forced to learn unless you had put yourself in such a vulnerable position."

Happy Hump Day!