To briefly summarize... in the last four months I have bought a home and sold one, moved from the east coast to Arizona and bought a car. I also took over an eighth grade math classroom for four months which should make everyone question my sanity.
Major upheaval. Intentionally pushing a re-start button. It's not a total rewind; my past is sacred to me. But this move is a very deliberate attempt to create new experiences.
From a new climate to new grocery stores to new neighbors, new colleagues and new places to put all of my stuff, it is a daily challenge to tame the unknown and master the environment. I am learning where the locals shop and the restaurants that are not worth the money. As I figure out my way around town, I am making a lot of U turns.... most of them are legaI. I got new glasses from an almost-expired prescription but I don't have any doctors yet and I need to get some soon. This week, I am going to tackle the DMV; I have an entire day set aside for that.
The anonymity of living in a new place is somewhat comforting, but the familiar isolation remains. Meeting new people requires constant evaluation: how much do I really want to share with this person? Typical "getting to know you" conversations are landmines for me; it takes awhile for me to warm up enough to trust people with my tales. It's not that everybody doesn't have a story - they do. It's just that my stories seems so deeply painful to tell and - I would think - to listen to.
