Clik here to view.
Peach iced tea from Espresso Royale
It’s a gorgeous afternoon, there’s no rain and I’m awake. I’m sucking down a peach iced tea in a cup bigger than my face and updating my blog five months later from a café in St. Paul… because I live here now.
Yup. Just give it half-a-year or so and I’ll move to a whole new city. I also managed to rustle up a new job, some new digs and a cat named Orange Juice.
Clik here to view.
I really do have more furniture now. Honestly.
The last five months have felt like some kind of whirlwind. I always knew the day would come when I’d eventually leave my lovely Duluth. I just didn’t know it’d be more than seven years after I first moved there.
But somehow things creep up on you, and suddenly those feelings for adventure and change are too much to ignore. I’d seemingly used up every reason to stay in the north woods. I got a degree. I got my first job with puny pay and bad hours. Got a promotion. Got better hours. Got an extension. And then I got restless.
I’d just barely crested my mid-20s and the routine of it all was too much. It was no overnight transformation, but my brain wasn’t growing or learning any more, and it was time to change. So I did.
After an exhaustive job search, and, blessedly, plenty of offers, I packed my life in a UHaul and decided to make myself a St. Pauly girl. I accepted a new TV producing gig, reprising my graveyard hours on the morning news shift.
Clik here to view.
Now I’m a real person!
And since midnight is usually my midday, that makes being upright at two p.m. pretty amazing.
But the decision to come here wasn’t an easy one. The decision to leave wasn’t either. The decisions about where to go, what to do and how to find fulfillment basically caused, like, 30 new gray hairs to start permanently sprouting out of my head.
For real. I had to color my hair.
As I write this, I know there’s probably someone cringing about my philosophy on finding happiness. It sounds selfish to be discontent with a steady, comfortable job, and not know the meaning of hard work!
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
I get that.
But I do believe in hard work. And I’m not flippant about what constitutes personal happiness either. I had an old boyfriend who used to tell me I’d never be satisfied with anything. He said I’d just keep climbing the corporate ladder until I reached my goal and then I’d still be unhappy. Maybe he’s right. Maybe the place I’ll eventually want to be in the long run will be right back where I started.
But, mostly, that’s just terrible advice. And nobody puts DD in a corner.
Staying in a job that’s unchallenging is a disservice to personal growth. We, the “hopes and dreams” kind of people, can’t shut up about becoming a welder one day and a French teacher the next until we’ve worked out the pros and cons for ourselves.
Instead, I think the right perspective is to consider each change, no matter what it is, as a stepping-stone—to more money, gained experience, a different job, travel time, new city, etc.
The only annoying part is that when you do decide to get all brave and shit, nobody tells you how freaking hard the growing pains are when you do it.
Umm… HELLO?
A friend recently described her own moving process to me as being stuck in the ‘W’. You go through the ups and downs of the experience, riding highs and lows. Like yesterday, we biked all through Minneapolis, and ended up at the beach. Amazing. Today, I’m going to bed at 4 p.m.
Highs and lows, people.
Duluth is where I met best friends, boyfriends, so many acquaintances and lovely coworkers; I fell in love with the outdoors and live music, the North Shore, got an education and started a career. I’d be crazy if I didn’t miss that.
But I’m learning you don’t have to be OK immediately. No one’s expecting that. When you’re new, you’re new at everything and to everywhere.
I am, though, ready to make new firsts here in the big-Big city, and I’m not regretful. I can embrace the old times without dismissal and hold my head up for the new ones right here.
So.
Now that that’s off my chest… Let’s do this, baby. Take it all in stride. This is my time. Some other uplifting mantra here! You’re going to make it after all, old girl!
And I promise it won’t be November before you hear from me again.
All for now—
Dayna
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
