SanFranciscoSooner

Hope You Brought Some Dawn, Cuz Shit’s About to Get Sappy! … You Know, Cuz Sap Is Sticky … And Soap … Nevermind …

25 May 2011 Leave a Comment

by sanfranciscosooner in Friends, Love This!, Random, San Francisco Tags: best friends, Challenges, family, Friends, life lessons, things that matter

Holy sheesh it’s been a long time since I last posted anything. I felt like, if I was going to break the silence, I would have to write something really, really good. But … then I got over that, and here we are …

Well, it’s been an interesting time indeed. A year and a half has passed since I graduated college and left everything I have ever known behind. There are days where I feel like the me today and the me I had been for 21 years have nothing left in common other than a name, and then there are times when I feel like I am more “me” than ever. In reality, I think that it is a mixture of both of those things. I have grown an incredible amount, learned valuable lessons, and have taken some huge steps down the path that, I think, will lead me to where I eventually wish to be.

The only constant my time spent in San Francisco has afforded me is change. I have lived in three different apartments in two different cities, lived with six different people, and had two different jobs. I learned the ins and outs of a public transportation system, and then got a Vespa. Then I learned that there are a lot of one-way streets in the city, and just when I was getting the hang of it, I got hit by a car. Every time I would get into a rhythm, life would throw a curve ball my way. I think I even got hit with a couple pitches. Life can be a real bitch like that sometimes. But all that has taught me to welcome challenges, embrace change, and loathe monotony.

Because if you don’t welcome challenges, they’re just gonna do a B&E (breaking and entering … duh!) on your ass, steal all your shit, and then make you file a police report and deal with insurance bullshit for 7 months … then you’ll be saying, “Why didn’t I just invite Challenges over for a fucking dinner party, we could have eaten lasagna and played charades … then none of this would be happening.” And if you don’t embrace change, it will just wrestle you into a sleeper hold until you pass out, but then when you come to, Change is still sitting on your chest, asking if you’re ready to hug it out or if you would like to have another encounter with unconsciousness … like an annoying little brother (note: I said an, not my, love you Tommy) who all the sudden realizes he is big enough to beat the crap out of you. Your brother isn’t going to get smaller and you’re going to end up embracing change one way or another, you can chose for it to be a loving embrace or a choke hold of doom …but it’s got to happen. And if you don’t loathe monotony, like, I mean, be a total raging bitch to it, it will move in without your permission, post up on your couch, never let you watch what you want to watch on TV, not pay its share of rent, take really long showers right before you until there is no hot water left, eat all your food, and wake you up 9 minutes before you were planning on getting up … EVERY morning. You have to be persistent in the pursuit of the not so mundane, or your life will be … mundane. Unless, obviously, those those things sound appealing to you, and if that is the case … then do the exact opposite of what I just said. To each their own.

While learning to handle new and exciting challenges is, well, new and exciting, it is also important to figure out what truly matters to you. What is the one aspect of your life that, if it were removed, would rock you to your core? What’s a great job if you have nobody to celebrate your achievements with, what are monumental life moments if no one is there to reflect upon them with you, what is success if experienced alone, what is anything worth anything if no one is there to laugh with you, to cry with you, to be angry with you, to be angry at you, to be happy for you, to be sad for you, to care for you, to love you?

To my family, and to my friends, you truly mean the world to me. To my parents, who have taught me to be compassionate, accepting, proud, and independent.

To my brothers, who have shown me that life is not fair, that things worth having don’t come easy, that losing isn’t fun, and that driving the speed limit is way boring.

To my best friend in the world, Sarah, for always, always being on my side, for teaching me to be able to laugh at myself, for encouraging me to always speak my mind, and for never saying “I told you so.”

To Michelle, who has bolstered my feistiness, introduced me to SDHs, and shown me how to dance like no one is watching, especially when you know people are watching.

To Taylor, for showing me how it is to be a completely open and warm person, and that there is always room for comic relief.

To Laura, for always listening, always knowing when to tell me what I need to hear, and liking Harry Potter as much as I do.

To Kenneth, who showed me that I’ll never be too mature to have a great time and that a lot can be said with few words (maybe I haven’t fully grasped that concept yet).

To Kathryn, who taught me to roll with the punches and always keep an eye out for adventure.

To Casi, who taught me that no matter how crappy things can be sometimes, its always better when you have friends.

To all my friends that I have met along the way, thank you for taking the time to make me a part of your life.

Thank you all for supporting me, for picking me up when I fall flat on my face, for not making me feel bad for falling on my face, for celebrating me, for cheering me on, for giving me pep talks when things get tough, for loving me, for all that you do, for making me who I am, but most of all, for being you.

A very wise, very best friend once said, “Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t me. So that I could be friends with me.” Well, in case you’re all wondering what it would be like to be friends with you, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

♥Nikki