Catch Ya Later

I have never left Los Angeles for more than three weeks at a time. Sad, I know. In my 19 years, I have never been over an hour from where I was born for more than just a few weeks.

Living in LA, I almost got caught in this spiral of why would anyone ever want to leave? Especially as it begins to rain in my first week in Athens, I long for the 76° weather of home. I cherish my spontaneous beach days, late night In-N-Out runs, and (although they were rare) morning hikes. In addition to these things, there is so much I admire about Los Angeles. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but I’m not sure I could love my favorite city anymore than I already do.

However, I obviously understand why it’s important to leave home. There are so many worlds that co-exist with the one of privilege and security that I grew up in. And I know that I have a lot of growing to do that comes from the challenges of being outside of my comfort zone. There is so much beauty to be seen. Traveling the world allows one to better understand the vastness of reality, and it propels us to recognize our own puniness in the grand scheme of things.

With that being said, I’m not quite ready to say goodbye to Los Angeles. You only get one hometown.

Instead, here are a few things I’d rather say goodbye to.

I’m saying goodbye to comparing myself to others. To planning moments rather than living them. More than that, I’m saying goodbye to delaying my own happiness. To apologizing for who I am or for what I cannot control. I’m saying goodbye to being afraid of the world.

Goodbyes can be terrifying because they challenge our sense of normalcy and force us to expand beyond what we knew. While this chapter is as terrifying as it is exciting, it is also important to remember that there are so many more new hellos than there are goodbyes.

So, hello, Athens, and catch you later, Los Angeles.