I love my hometown. I honestly do not think that I could have grown up in a better place. I was constantly surrounded by people who cared about me and who cared about each other. Someday, I want to move back home. No, not to my parents' basement, but to a house of my own in the city that made me who I am today. I will forever be grateful that I got to call that city home, and I am hopeful that someday I will get to do the same. But before I move back home I want to go somewhere that makes me uncomfortable and helps me discover new things about myself, just as my hometown did for me.
1. New places to explore.
My dream is to live in a big city that has many new bookstores to find old, used books in and museums with artists I've never heard of. I want to expand my horizons (in the least cliche way possible) and find new passions I would not find moving back home.
2. New people to meet.
Just as a new city would give me new places to go, a new city would introduce me to new people who can teach me new things and worldviews. Moving away and meeting people who are different than I would not only allow me to grow as a person but grow professionally as well.
3. New food to eat.
Food is my weakness, and new places equal new foods to try. Moving somewhere new will allow me to try foods I would never dream of trying before and push me out of my comfort zone in a way that I normally would not at home (where I order the same thing and go to the same restaurants every time we go out to eat).
4. Streets to get lost on (and consequently find myself).
I'm not sure a more cliche sentence has ever been written, but this point is the most important to me. Moving somewhere new will force me to become comfortable with getting lost and losing control of situations--something I am inherently bad at. Learning to lose control and adapt to new situations will allow me to grow. I know every street and alleyway of my hometown and walking down streets I don't know the name of will give me a freedom I would not find at home.
5. Learning to be alone.
I am bad at being alone and being happy about it. I like to be constantly surrounded by people--even if we are sitting in silence. Moving somewhere new will make me become more comfortable in my own skin and love myself in a way being with people I know very well all the time would not allow me to do.
Moving somewhere new can be scary. Just the thought of moving to a different city alone makes me anxious, but I know that once I get there, it will do more good than harm. And it will teach me more about myself than my hometown ever could.
