The start of life balance
Life is very different here. When I lived in DC I traveled 75% of the time and though I lived in the same building for three years I did not know any of my neighbors. I occasionally hung out with my co-workers and often when I was home, I was just so happy to be back I would spend hours catching up on tv and just relaxing by myself at home. My life revolved around my job. No plans could be made regularly because a trip would always interfere and I would plan when to see someone months in advance so that I could assure I would be available even just for coffee. No time to just live in the moment because every day coincided with when I would be leaving next or returning. Last week I realized that would no longer be the case. I could actually not plan what I was gonna do at the end of the month as though it was the only week I would be in town, which used to so often be the case. I could randomly at the last minute decide to do something or put something off until the next week. Oh this is going to be trouble because I am naturally a procrastinator!
I have been in my new condo for about six months and my neighbors and I joke that it is kind of like living in a dorm. We are often in the hallway talking and in and out of each others places providing advice on who to use for electrical work or admiring our latest home improvement project. We run errands, chat over tea, laugh over cocktails, and invite each other to dinner parties and barbeques. Now it is not like this throughout the whole building (though everyone is amazingly nice for the most part) or even our whole floor, but in our little corner of the world we might as well all be undergrads.
Last night was one of those times when one of our chats a few days earlier turned into an invite to a weekend dinner party. As I sat in my neighbors home the difference in my life here immediately hit me. I sipped on the mojito my neighbor had mastered a few weeks before after I shared my secret recipe and methods for making what is my ultimate favorite drink. I helped a friend that was attending the party practice her English as I practiced my Spanish. The friends husband sang songs in Spanish and English to entertain the small group with his guitar. We laughed, ate and joked with this multicultural mix of people from all different ethnic groups. In DC I didn’t often do things like this because I had so little time at home last minute plans just didn’t happen. And besides hi, I never spoke to the people I lived next to when I actually was in town. This hopefully is a sign that the scales of life are becoming more even and that I truly made the right decision. One thing is for certain, it is great to live in the moment…