3 Years Later...

Today marks 3 years since I packed up the life I knew, drove 12 hours, and decided to call Brooklyn my new home. This journey has been the experience that not only I wanted, but needed.

Originally, I wanted to move August 2022. I wanted to try it for a month to see if I could really do it. However, one of my mentors told me that I should bite the bullet and just go full steam ahead. I applied for some apartments and got turned down for all of them. For my friends back home reading this, New York does the stupidest shit where you need to make 40x the rent yearly. In comparison Chicago's 3x the rent monthly, is a $10,000 difference. SMH.

Although I was bummed that I was unable to move when I wanted, I needed to be in Chicago for a while longer. My grandma had a heart attack just a few weeks later in September and she definitely needed me there as I was the person she called for help and I called 911.

As my grandma's primary caretaker and best friend, I wouldn't have been comfortable leaving her to pursue an idea that came from a conversation with an old friend earlier that year. I'm the kind of person that doesn't make any important decisions until I've thought about it for a year. And no, thats not an exaggeration. I ended up having an important conversation with my Godmother the month before I moved. We went to a Lizzo concert and ended up having a 2 hour conversation in the parking lot of my childhood home about how I have to do what my heart tells me and follow my dreams. She told me everything would fall in line and if I really wanted it, it was worth the risk.

Now I can't say what exactly the risk was (when I finally tell the full story, it'll make sense why I kept it to myself), but that changed my perspective and I was determined to move and continue my apartment search. I knew what I wanted in an apartment and the main thing was I couldn't have 16 damn roommates and live in a box. 2 weeks after my pivotal conversation with my Godmother, I went to visit my ship (line sister) in DC for Halloween/her birthday. While there, I mustered up the courage to whip out my credit card and book an AirBnB. It was finally happening.

The two weeks that followed consisted of my goodbye tour. I spent time with friends that asked me what my plan was and for the first time, I did not fully have a plan together. But, I believed in myself enough to leave behind everything that I'd known.

A few days before my move, my mom decided that she was going to join the drive. The night before I left, I packed up my car trying to strategically fit everything that I thought I would need and couldn't ship or put in carry-on luggage. It was so unbelievably windy and cold that night, but I persevered and got it done. I set my alarm for 4am and the next morning, was up and hit the road to Brooklyn. And that's just the excerpt of the real story.

My time here has been so insightful. I've learned much so much about myself, my bandwidth, and my capabilities. I am so proud of the 25 year old that decided to take that risk with $5000, a credit card, and a car. I have built my community from the ground up, leaned into sisterhood, fell in love, experienced heartbreak, got twisted up in clownery, killed spiders (my one true fear) – all the things.

The ups and downs are priceless and I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's all part of the process, at least thats what I tell myself. New York is definitely a hard city to stay afloat in when you're doing it by yourself and boy have I been TESTED BAD. I miss my Chicago like hell, but this is my home now. I built this life brick by brick! When I first moved, I decided to give myself 5 years in New York. Suprisingly, I like it way more than I expected... I'm not sure how long I'll be here and I don't know where I'll end up next, but I'm leaving here with something.

Happy Anniversary E! Proud of you girl, I got your back forever.