observations...

So far, here's my conclusions about DC life:

:: My west coast life was much more relaxing. Or maybe that was unemployment...
:: Two part-time contracts are more work than one full-time job.
:: The closer I am to the nation's capital, the less I seem to pay attention to politics.
:: No one is really from here and no one is really staying here. I fit right in.
:: I heart free art galleries.
:: Cold weather is pointless without snow.
:: My life would not be possible without free wireless.
:: I need more paper, less screen.
:: I need my space. Particularly wide open space.
:: Life is about process and patience. So are relationships.

:: “Fear can stop you loving. Love can stop your fear.” –Morcheeba

east by northwest...

I've landed back on the east coast, after a snowy northern and whirlwind western journey... and so far my world is still spinning. I didn't think it was possible to be this busy in a new place without a full-time job. Except that on days like this one when my two part-time contract jobs collide, I might as well try to be two people...

Coming back to DC this time was honestly difficult. I love my friends here, old and new, and I know this place holds a world of opportunity for me. But there's a part of myself that I left on the west coast... a part of myself still in Europe... and year after year, there's always a part of myself I leave back home in Alaska. Sometimes I wonder, eventually, if I keep moving and leaving bits of myself here and there... will there be any of me left?

Regardless, I'm grateful for the worlds I have, so full of love in so many places. As much as they have required me to give up, they have added so much more. There are doors that close behind, where you know you can never return, but others stay half-open, always inviting and pulling you back...

DC is another door I've gone through... another season to add to the itinerary of my life. For some reason I still haven't quite figured out, it's where I'm supposed to be for now. So I'll put away my mountains and evergreen air with my suitcases, and settle into being in this brick house and monuments world for as long as I need to be.

Believing is enough for now.

:: “Take me north, south, east or west... I guess I'll leave it up to you.” – Over the Rhine