Everything Is Everything (The Big Move, Prep Day #1)

As the end of November 2010 draws to its end, so does my time in San Francisco, CA, my home of the last 10+ years. I'm moving to St. Louis, MO in just under two days for a great job, following a hard-to-believe timeline. Friends, relatives, colleagues, and even mere acquaintances have been so kind to wish me well and congratulate me and hope the best for me in this new part of my life.

No escape from Alcatraz: just moving away from San Francisco (for now).

Golden Gate Bridge (from Marina Green).

Golden Gate Bridge (from Crissy Field)

Today I did a lot of pre-packing, laundry, errands, shopping, and tried to smile through a mix of emotions. I even took a lunch break at the Nieman Marcus Rotunda, with a straight-lone view of the top of that store's Christmas tree.

Lunch break at Nieman Marcus.

 
It's hard for me not to get emotional about this move, especially in the midst of holiday activity, and I know that it's normal to feel so much so deeply if one is leaving one's home of so many years. I regret that I have not had time for so many personal goodbyes, but I have been overwhelmed by every act of kindness I have witnessed in this time of transition. I would like to share some of these affirmations here:

"Happiness is inevitable. Enjoy the life you create for yourself." - NB

"I wish you unending success and fulfillment with your new adventure! ...May the wind be at your back, and the road rise to meet you." - ML

 "I'm very proud of you - from one of your biggest fans!" - RR

 "Wow. That is how we do it!" MGA

I often wondered how everyone could be so happy for me when I myself was alternately excited and sad about the move. You've probably heard as often as I have the saying, "Everything happens for a reason." Well, usually I hear that sentence spoken in sad times, as a way of acknowledging the negative emotion and trying to spin it on its head with an acceptance of some other omniscient inevitability. But this afternoon in between Task #17 and Task #18 on my preparation list, it hit me: if everything happens for a reason, then that includes "everything." So my entire life has prepared me for this move, just like it had prepared me for my unemployment before that; and my Ed.D. graduation before that; and every other professional challenge, educational success, friendly joy, broken heart, sorrowful tear, and genuine smile before that. So in the midst of all these emotions and thoughts that come with change, I felt myself starting to embrace not just this move, but all of my life. Because this move isn't just a new job in a new place at a new part of my life: it's just (quite simply and quite naturally) the very latest addition of everything to everything.

Golden Gate Bridge, in all its art deco grandeur.

So thank you, San Francisco, for the last 10 years of everything. It will be hard to leave you, but that will make future returns and reunions all the more special. Back to that task list...awaiting more of everything.