No Regrets, or "What Would Lbo Do"

Look out! Deep, heavy-on-the-emo blog post. If you're not up for it, exit now.

So, fact: It doesn’t really matter where you go, as long as you just go.

I gave this advice to a friend who has been debating changing up the life they’ve had for years, and it made me think about just how true it is. When I decided to leave San Francisco, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I knew it was going to be good for me.

I could have ended up in any city, alone, and with a new life in front of me to build. It could have been anywhere and I would have grown and made it my own and done well and known that from there, I could keep doing it. And the fact that I ended up in the city of Dallas, in a state I didn’t truly consider living in until one sunny day in April 2006 when I got a much-needed phone call ...well, that’s even better. I couldn’t have even told you where in the state of Texas Dallas was on the map. And I pride myself on my geography. Who knew it was so close to Oklahoma?!

There have been far more times than I can even recall where I’ve thought to myself or turned to my friend and said, “I will never regret moving here.” That’s usually preceded with “Even though I bitch about this place a lot...” and followed by “...when I look back fondly from some other city.”

I was first able to say those words one night when Phillip and I were at Adairs drinking $2 Lone Stars and people watching the heck out of that place. Between the Dallas d-bags to our left, the cowboys to our right, the shuffleboarders shuffling, the hipsters serving beer behind the bar, the old guy alone at the bar, and the couples up front dancing to a country-swing band...I just looked at him and said “I don’t regret moving here for a minute.”

Now, that’s a lie because there are plenty of minutes I’ve hated Texas and all its humid, swampy, bible-beating redneck wrath (strong words, I know). But, the fact that Texas will always beat me down and win is something I’ve come to accept. You win, Texas. You win with bugs, heat, tornadoes, churches, Republicans, accents, guns, oil, strip malls...you win.

But I win because first of all, I’ve learned to ignore and/or tolerate and/or make friends with people who also dislike all those aforementioned things Texas prides itself on. And because of many more reasons, really great reasons, that deserve another post, one that I’m making in my head as I drive around every day. Drive – yea, you have to drive everywhere. Add that to the list.

So, friend who is pondering safety and financial security vs. the unknown and amazing times and new friends and hard work and debt and tears. Move somewhere. It’ll be fine.