The Times they are A’Changin

Remember how last time I talked about being a stranger?  Well I’m about to become one.  And not just for travel’s sake.  For real.

For the first time in my life, I am moving to a new city.  It’s a city that I know a little bit from a visitor’s outlook and enjoy immensely: San Francisco!

I’ve grown up and lived my entire life to this point in and around Los Angeles.  I lived with my parents in Glendale until I was 18, which really still counts as LA.  It’s a quick 30 minute drive and as a teenager we would drive into Hollywood or other parts of the city plenty of times to get away from our boring “small town”, which is actually not that much of a small town but we all thought it was.  Going to Santa Monica College, my sister and I commuted for about 6 months, but once we were going over there all the time to work on plays in the theater department the drive really began to wear down.  Luckily, our friend Jesse needed a roommate at the same time that we needed a room, so we moved in with him.  That was in the spring of 2006, and in the five years since I’ve lived in a few different apartments in Los Angeles, currently with my boyfriend Zac in what I dub as “Jew-town, USA”, ie the predominately Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in the middle of the city.

I love LA, don’t get me wrong, but I have to admit I’ve gotten a bit restless.  I didn’t move away for college and I didn’t do study abroad, two experiences that I wanted and strived for but for assorted reasons neither happened.  I’ve always been yearning for a more immersive experience to really see how people live in other parts of the world, but as I get older and more settled I’ve been wondering if I would ever have the chutzpah to do it.

Zac’s been going to Santa Monica College like I did, and similarly it has come time for him to move on and transfer.  When talking about where he wanted to go to, I told him to see what was out there and keep his options open, but we always had the understanding that if we were to stay together and I would come with him, it came down to location.  For instance, there are some great schools in the midwest, but no way am I going to the midwest.  I have a theater degree and need to be in a city.  I need the pulse, the drive, the artistry and creativity that happens in cities.  This and the financial need to go to a state school in the California State University system led Zac to apply to San Francisco State University, Cal State Northridge, and Cal State East LA.  A few weeks ago we received the good news that he was accepted to SFSU.

Since graduating from UCLA, I feel like my life has sort of stagnated.  I’ve done things that I’m proud of for sure, but it’s not progressed with the leaps and bounds that I guess I had figured instantly happened once one graduates with a BA from UCLA.  Part of that was not helped by the economy, but part of that also lies with me.  I’ve gotten distracted, caught up with other things, lazy.  I know moving and changing scenery is not an instant fix and that I have to still self-motivate in order to achieve, but I’m hoping that it will reignite my passion and renew my drive.

I keep telling people that I’m moving.  The first reaction is “Oh no!  Why???  I’ll miss you!!!” quickly followed by “That’s awesome!  You’ll love it there!”  I guess I didn’t realize how loved I’ve become.  I have a few friends up in San Francisco, but I hope I’ll be able to make many more.  I don’t seriously think it will be a problem, but it’s the one thing that I’m really worried about.

I am foraging off into the unknown here, and I have a feeling that this blog may become a diary of my new experiences.  While it is not of the “let’s take a trip!” variety, it is still the adventure of discovering new places, and I will certainly feel as though I am living up to my tagline “a little Mo in a big world”.  I’m a little scared.  I’m a little worried.  I would be lying if I denied that.  But mostly I am just excited.  It’s possible that this will be a horrible failed experiment and I will come back to LA with my tail between my legs.  Surprisingly, this doesn’t worry me so much.  I know that Los Angeles and my friends and family will all be here for me.  This is my home, it doesn’t matter if I return in a week or twenty years, I know I have something to come back to.  Just as possible though is the chance that I am making the best decision of my life and this will open doors for me I didn’t know existed and the world will be my oyster laid out before me.  The only way I can know is to just fucking do it.  And as even my 87 year old Jewish grandmother admitted “Well, you’re young.  It’s the right time”.

So dear readers, that’s the big news on my side of the world.  While I still intend to make these writings about various trips and travels, do not be surprised if talk of that fair golden gated city to the north crops up more and more.  Hopefully we’ll all learn together about the experience of relocating to a new place. I am open to my future and the new possibilities it brings, and I hope you are too.

Good Day and Happy Travels

Mo