I’m thinking about relocating to Northwest Arkansas in June. When I consider this change, I think about what I would take with me. I concluded that I could be satisfied with the camping supplies I bought for the 2022 summer road trip that was barely used (a car blow up mattress, two chairs, and a small fold up table), my paddleboard, and my macbook. I would box up some basic kitchen supplies and pack the clothes I like. I can get what I need into my Forrester. I really like this feeling.
There are some very practical reasons I would relocate: closer to parents, lower cost of living, a better lifestyle fit for me (lakes and open space). I also think about a fresh start. The thought of ‘reinventing’ myself comes up.
The last part about the fresh start and the reinvent makes me pause, as does leaving Smoosh.
When I think about a fresh start and reinventing myself, it sounds like an escape. As if I needed to relocate to create changes. I don’t care for that thinking as it relates to the way I know myself to be.
I have been challenging myself to consider what a fresh start would look like, and how I can do that now, in real time. To me, a fresh start is a mindset.
One example is if I moved to NWA, in my mind I would attend events in Fayetteville at the University. At present, I live quite close to the University of Denver. I do not attend events at DU. I wonder, what would that look like and why would I suddenly do it in Fayetteville, and not here.
My last few summer road trips included stops in southern towns that have town squares. I love town squares. My favorite town square is in Oxford, Mississippi. Oxford, Mississippi is too south for me to live; and I think there may be alligators there. I would be closer to Oxford if I lived in NWA. I would also be closer to Lawrence. Lawrence has been my crush for (maybe) going on almost five years. Lawrence, Kansas. I know. It’s quite true, – somethinaboutit. I can buy into these ideas being lifestyle changes, but what about the reinvent?
This past summer I visited a lot of college towns. Each college town I visited had an inclusive, socially progressive vibe (with one exception that I won’t expose). In my experience, only one college town had a distinctive digitally progressive vibe, and that was Fayetteville. I would find the same in Denver and Boulder…it isn’t hard. Also, I think that Ogden, Utah had a bit more of the digital, innovative, design thinking vibe than the other towns as well. Remember, this is just my experience based on very short stays. Had I spent more time in Eugene, Oregon, my guess is I would have found it there as well.
I love being around progressive thinking. I don’t think this has anything to do with politics, not the way I consider progressive thinking. I like thinking in new ways. I like new ideas. I like dreaming, wondering, creating, applying, designing. And I also like Yoga. Yoga is the opposite of progressive. It’s quite old. Yet, to my mind, so relevant to living day.
It’s always two things. The old and the new.
Whatever the reinvent myself means, I am fairly certain I can do that now. I don’t need to relocate for that to happen.
Speaking of reinvent, my blog name has shifted on its own. I refer to my content now as day. That’s it: day. I also kind of like the sensual vibe. I’m working that out. Selfcare and sensual living go together. If you read my posts, you know what I mean by sensual: experiencing day in the moments through the physical senses and allowing it to be enough, as is. Fresh.
Change is a constant.
We take ourselves wherever we go. Fresh is a feeling.
I still wonder about the reinvent…maybe that just means trying on different roles that I put aside here in Denver while focusing on getting to the other side of the depression.
Life.
Constantly changing, continually reinventing itself while it stays the same.
Always two things.
The old AND the new.
PS. I think town squares are old too 🤷♀️
day. 