New city, big transition, newer city, bigger transition. The latter being unexpected and not preferred, but y’kno…still I rise or something like that.
Some context: I got sick of the feeling of stuckness and drowning I was feeling late last year and decided I needed to introduce some drastic change into my life. Also, if these past few years have taught me anything, it’s that your connections are precious, we need to pool together more, and to not hesitate in doing things because everything is fleeting.
I recognized that my grandparents in Georgia weren’t doing so well(and they didn’t quite realize it themselves), and I organized moving myself and my son down there to live with them and help out, while also having a more available support system there for my son than I had in Philly. So I made it happen.
Long story made very short: the grands were in worse shape than was understood. I touched on it a smidge on my last post, but nothing about this move has gone according to plan. I had to make a sudden relocation to my other set of grandparents a few hours away, a few hours…deeper into the south.
I’ve lived here once before after high school, ten-ish years ago now. I have never wanted to be back in this place for as long as I live, but I’m stuck here yet again. I want to scream constantly. In fact, I do. I’ve been dragged so far from my norm that it has taken a while for me to 1.) find myself again and 2.) have the energy to express who that even is. Can’t say I’ve fought through all of the fog completely, but I’m getting creatively and mentally constipated, and that feels worse than the autopilot induced haze.
Stay tuned for a slew of rants about the south as I navigate the culture shock, and thanks for sticking around thus far.
Ciao for now
Hang in there, Mai. I grew up in the South and have lived in the Midwest and the North; I'm in NC these days. You're welcome to any advice I can offer, and if you don't want it, hey, that's cool too.