happy SF-iversary to me
i’ve lived in san francisco three years today. that’s almost the longest i’ve lived anywhere, ever, but it’s definitely the longest i’ve lived anywhere i remember. my record for longest ever was los angeles, from when i was born till i was about four, but that doesn’t really count since i don’t remember it. my longest in recollection was fairfax, virginia where we lived from first through third grade.
three years may not seem like a long time to a lot of people, but in military brat terms, it’s EONS. what really surprises me is not that it’s been three years, but HOW FAST it’s flown by. no wonder people get stuck in the same city their whole lives. for this reason, i always have the fear not too far from the front of my mind that i’m going to wake up one day and have been here for ten years, foregoing a lot of the other things i wanted to do and places i wanted to live. this fear, though, is a common theme in my life, coupled - i’ve decided - with my upbringing and my hard-charging, never-settle personality. i believe i should do and have whatever i want, and i’m determined to make that happen!
this theme brings me a great feeling of restlessness about once a year. usually i’d switch jobs, but now that i have my own businesses and am self-employed, i constantly do that. last year i abated it with a three-month trek through asia. this year, i distracted myself by thinking about a move to thailand. the truth is, right now i have no idea what the future holds, how long we’ll stay here, and where we’ll go next. we love our life here, but the plan has always been that this would be a stepping stone to other things. what are those other things? i have some abstract ideas, but no real concrete plans. the alexis of three years ago would’ve been obsessive and freaked out about that. the alexis of today is still a little obsessive about it - but slightly less so. san francisco is helping to teach me to be present in the path that i’m on, every day, and not always looking forward. for someone like me, this is not an inconsequential lesson to learn.
if i make it to my fourth SF-iversary, i’m throwing a huge party, and ya’ll are invited.
May 30 2009 08:09 am | military and san francisco and the city and the future