city movement

I moved to New York: start spreading the news.

This wasn’t something that was necessarily planned but necessary, nonetheless.

I’m someone who has a love-hate relationship with change. I think many of us do. We think a lot about making changes in our lives. We think about wanting to exercise more, eat better, be more productive with our time, drink less, be kinder to our friends and family, and continuously improve as a person. As a creative, we might want to draw more, write more, or finish that project we’ve been sitting on.

BUT, we tend to shy away from making these changes. We hesitate because we don’t know what effects these changes can have. Change always means uncertainty. Fear tells us to stay the same and keep everything the way it is because that’s the only way we know. However, playing it safe isn’t always the best way.

I’m not saying that making a big, drastic change or, in my case, getting up and moving will solve all your problems. But, a change in scenery can do a lot of good - especially when you’ve spent most of your life in one place, one environment, one mindset, and seen things from one perspective.

I’m an indecisive, tentative person. I’m overly cautious, uncertain, and afraid. I gotta make a change if I want the visions I have in my head to come true. Right? So, as expected, I found out that the only way to improve in these areas is to throw myself into the fire when the opportunity presents itself.

I jumped into the deep end to prove to myself that I could do it. I also did it to practice, to reduce the gravity of it all so that the next time, when a seemingly tough decision comes around, the uneasy feeling turns into a confident one. The anxiety turns into excitement and the uncertainty is considered a good thing. Let’s call it rewiring.

I truly believe that when we feel this way about something, whether it’s moving to a new city, going after a new job, or following your passions and interests … chasing it will lead to something special. This is where magic can happen. It’s scary excitement. It’s knowing that you don’t know and doing it anyway that can get you to new heights, get you closer to your truest self.

Stagnation can eat you up. You know that you need to change something to become a better version of yourself, but you put it off because it feels too mysterious, too up in the air, too risky. What if? What if I start a business and it doesn’t work out? What if I cut out this bad habit and my friends disapprove? What if I start taking these classes and people judge me? What will others think of me? BUT, a better, more important question to ask yourself is … WHAT IF I STAY THE SAME? What are the repercussions of that choice? I guarantee you that the answer to the latter is more compelling, evoking interest and attention in a powerful, more irresistible way.

Switching things up does good for the creative mind. It’s healthy. The move to New York City reignited my ambition and inspiration. Since I arrived, I’ve been telling myself this: complete the project so you can take the risk of sharing it. Risk is the price of creation. And, the secret to happiness and fulfillment is work worth doing. The work worth doing is usually the scary/exciting stuff; the thing that truly interests you, the thing that you’re passionate about, the thing that lights you the fuck up. Spend more of your days participating in and exploring that. Time spent doing this is never wasted.

Let it be known that there is no shame either. I know that in today’s culture, it seems like the world is more judgmental now than ever before. Not many people want to let their authentic selves show due to the fear of being laughed at, talked about, and judged. A lot of us are trying to clone the people we think will help us gain acceptance from the world. We all want acceptance. We don’t need it, but it’s natural. I get it. I can relate. BUT, it’s our duty to be our truest selves, we owe it to ourselves and we deserve it. Grow closer to the ideal version of you and watch the universe send rewards.

People might not like it when you change. They, too, hesitate to accept because they’re unsure how these alterations might affect them and their dynamic with you. That’s ok. Let this be a mantra: “The people that are supposed to be in my life, the people that are meant for me, are the ones that will stick around. The ones that will support my change … not try to pull me back down to the version of me that they want to stick around. It’s my life. I’m the one that’s got to live it.”

Sometimes you got to make decisions based on feeling, not logic. I can give myself a million reasons not to do something, to put it off till it’s a sure thing. It’ll never be a sure thing. Nothing ever is. There comes a point in time when you have to take it yourself … when you have to tell the world that it’s your time. Make the most of this shit. Don’t just come close.

Keep going. It may not be today. It may not be tomorrow. But it’s coming.

PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE.