On to the next chapter.
When I first started talking to the girl who would become my wife, I told her, “I love LA. I’m never leaving. I was born here, and I’ll die here.”
What an idiot I was, and — to a big degree — still am.
I try not to live in the past, but sometimes I can’t help myself. When I do look back, I cringe at my buffoonery.
A word of advice to all the youngsters out there — if you’re using words like “always” and “never” in excess, you will one day realize with astonishment how often you did the exact opposite of what you stated with certainty at one point in life.
I still love Los Angeles, but it’s becoming more worn down. Everything is a day, week, year, decade older than it once was and it really shows. More often I will catch myself thinking that this is one sprawling dump of a city. The sidewalks remind me on a daily basis that not everyone has the courtesy to pick up after their dog. The streets are increasingly punishing me for owning a Prius with larger potholes and cracks. And it’s getting harder to justify paying the amount of rent we do for our tiny one bedroom apartment.
The love is really shining through your screen, isn’t it…
Despite my complaints, I will say that LA still has a great charm. The late night runs to the taco truck. The cool, gloomy June mornings. The nightlife on Sunset Boulevard. The different ethnicities, walks of life, and values as seen in the various neighborhoods throughout. The beauty of Los Angeles is an amalgamation of these things.
But I am leaving, and this is a good thing.
Leaving is good for a lot of reasons. Real reasons that anyone would understand. But the one reason I want to bring up now is comfort.
Comfort kills.
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” — Oscar Wilde.
For basically my entire life, I’ve only known Los Angeles, and the comfort of the familiar being only but a however-long-Google-Maps-tells-you-it’s-going-to-take-plus-fifteen-minutes-for-extra-traffic drive away. I need to leave. I need to go somewhere different. I need a new city to add an imprint into my being.
Of course, there’s a bit of apprehension to this change. But that is also good. Eleanor Roosevelt encouraged us to do one thing every day that scares us. I hope this qualifies.
I’m ready for it all… so Goodbye (for now), Los Angeles.
