journey

     I have called Philadelphia my home for 6 years.   This is the place where I had my first significant relationship...the place where I watched and had a lot to do with that relationship blowing up in my face....and also the place where we somehow pieced things back together to create maybe the most important friendship of my life --scratch that...absolutely the most important friendship in my life.
     This is the place where I met a group of friends that just seemed to work....friends that really thrived on the fact that we're all just a little insane.  These are friends who can make fun of themselves...who laugh at ridiculous things....who talk about prescription deodorant at dinner....who imitate ventriloquists at bars...who try to imagine what life would be like if you had no elbow or no knees........not that these friends can't also be as equally serious....but the reality is that nothing should be taken too seriously.
     This is the place where I worked with a group of people who leveraged me...who pushed me grow...not only as a merchant, but as a person....people who inspired me and helped me realize what I can do.  It's one thing to simply go to a job monotonously....it is a complete other to actually wholeheartedly like the people you work with.  This isn't to say that everything about work was kittens and candy canes.....but you take the good with the bad....and ultimately I had a hell of a lot of good.
   This is the place where I found the most incredible casual acquaintances-- from gym...the supermarket...the carwash....and you all know who I mean....the supporting cast in our life....the people who fill in the pieces....the friendly faces who are sadly only noticed when they aren't there anymore.  I've always made is a goal to learn about these people...even if it was just enough information to call them by their first name....or ask them about their kids.  I like knowing that people have stories...and I like that they are part of mine.
     This is the place where I found a love to yoga....where maybe I needed to find a love for yoga.   But as much as yoga is an experience of self actualization...it is also socially fulfilling....more friendly faces....inspiring teachers....and sharing it with people you care about.
    So I guess I got to thinking how can I just leave all of this....best friends...familiarity...co-workers who are more like family?  But then I have to step back and say that I'm not leaving any of it....not a single thing, person or memory.....I carry it all with me...because part of me needs to...but most of me just wants to.  As my new journey in life unfolds and takes me in new directions I have to believe that no matter what I evolve into...every person who has come in my life (in big or small way) has left a mark that in some insane way makes me....me.
     Life is not about places.....it's about people and experiences........this is the way I live.