2024: Let's Gooooo

 Halfway through the second month of 2024 and I have yet to write a blog?? 

LET'S TAKE TO THE KEYS.

First of all: one of my first posts ever (could have been my first / I can't be bothered to check) was on taxes and how stressful I find them to be. Seven years later and I am proud to announce: nothing has changed. Well, not nothing. I now have to deal with things like filing taxes out of state and early 401k withdrawals. (I am currently awaiting a certain 401k document before I even attempt to complete taxes for last year. I am having a quiet panic attack.) 

On the beat of deadlines: I was able to dodge jury duty last year by the skin of my teeth. The way I was able to do so: I was told I have impending duties coming in April (happy brthday, ho) and I am moving shortly thereafter... so perhaps I will be able to change my address beforehand? Otherwise the timeline may give me indigestion. Also: what a shit way to end things. Hilarious, but shit. Also, also: I want to crunch some hours in before I scoot so I will be able to take as much time off to just enjoy the new space once I arrive. And I will not be able to do that if I have to take time off for jury duty. (Two fuckin years down here and I get slapped with Grand Juror #1. Unreal.)

I hope I remember to end my electric services beforehand... and I also hope that they actually end my services immediately / properly and that I don't get charged a buttload for no reason when I'm not even occupying the space. Ah, electric companies. They really got us by the balls, don't they? We'll see who's laughing when we learn to live without electricity!

On the moving beat: I have (with the help of a few lovely individuals) purged a bunch of STUFF that I have collected in my 7 month stay in this studio apartment. I had so much fun thrifting (the thrill of the hunt!) and renewing and repurposing and reconfiguring things and designing and curating... and I had a lot of lovely times living around all the aforementioned stuff, but it also felt good to let a bunch of it go. I am having a minimalist renaissance and I am loving every minute of it. I'm sure I'll get comfortable again and gain a bunch of stuff once more. Everything comes in cycles, right? Seasons. I have seasons of writing like crazy / not, reading / not... being a minimalist / not. It's the forever fight of: visually exciting vs. logically efficient. Duality is gorgeous, but tough. 

I am going to miss the friends I have made down here. I will miss the quick, casual looks / jokes / dances / fun idiocy and brilliant chats that only people who live in close proximity have. I will miss the fashions. The age ranges (and how not everyone here is 100 years old). The vegan restaurants / plethora of options everywhere, the cafes and fact that you can get a coffee just about anywhere. The giant book store and cool options at thrifts stores and second hand shops and vintage stores and even TJMaxx. The visually appealing neighborhoods to go on walks through. The gorgeous grocery stores. the fact that there are plant shops - not home depot! Not a gift shop with a plant or two! An actual plant SHOP. The brilliant food and drink / restaurant and bar scene will be thoroughly missed. 

However. 

Just because I don't live somewhere doesn't mean I cannot visit. And to quote Pale Honey: "This city was never mine". It was super cool to explore, once I finally felt comfortable enough to do so, but I do not necessarily belong here. I don't know that I believe in "belonging" in physical places / towns / cities etc. To quote Dave Matthews Band: "Turns out, not where, but who you're with that really matters". I have always thought that. Before I even met most of the incredible people I have met. 

Speaking of: I was thinking, before I "took to the keys" tonight, that I haven't blogged in a hot minute. And even when I did, maybe I wouldn't publish it. I started to wonder why. Especially since I have the space and time to write to my heart's content at the moment / have for a hot minute (at least 7 months!). To find out, I tried to find what purpose this blog served. Throughout the seven years (is seven my number, right now??), it's been a place I could count on to free-write. For free-thought. A place to ponder and philosophize. To have the conversations I couldn't have with others / I was missing in my life.

Ah. There it was. 

I know we will all continue to grow and our needs will flow into something else, but at this point in time: I have been fortunate enough to meet and connect with a collection of dazzling thinkers and lovers. The people I have been waiting for to have these conversations with. I was only missing a piece (a tall piece, at over six feet tall) for a bit, and now I've regained stasis. Better than stasis - all of us have grown and done. We've gone and lived. And tried and learned. I am incredibly proud of us and staggeringly thankful for them. 

I would like to keep blogging whenever possible (if for no other reason than to have dependable support throughout tax season). And I'm sure I'll hit another "season" with it. For now, I am simply reveling in the Good surrounding me. (Which, now, consists of considerably less STUFF.)