may you live in interesting times ...

It seems that life always seems to get in the way of my actually writing about it, so I am just going to say  I think it makes for an interesting update. As the saying goes, change is the actual constant in life and I live to embrace that. Since I was around, a lot has happened.

I went to Zimbabwe for about a month. It's always bittersweet, because I never want to leave and I always end up imaging my life had I not moved to North Carolina. It was an amazing time, seeing family is always refreshing. 

I moved to Washington, D.C . The transition has been blessedly painless thanks to friends and I am trying to just my footing with a new city. I do like it here and I am just waiting to see what else it has to offer me in the months to come. I am hoping for the six figure salary ha ha. I am taking it a day at a time as so far so good 

 



I turned 25...much to my dismay as I don't think 16 year old me would be pleased the the whole lot of nothing on the things I imagined I would be doing when I turned 25. At what age is I am trying to find myself stops being a legitimate answer?

 


Lastly, I have crossed off another thing on my 101 list of things to do (#14).

I am making a promise to myself to do at least a weekly blog.

32 &79- MUSICAL THEATRE DARLING

“It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.”

Wisdom of Confucius

So a year or so ago, if not more  I took on a task that was meant to motivate me to, get out there and LIVE and not merely be a bystander in my own life. Then said life got in the way and I haven't completed as much as I would have at the moment, but easy does it, whatever. However,  I have managed to completed some of that daunting list and I've had some fun doing it. 

In April, (yes were are currently in September) I went to New York City with Rebecca to see How To Succeed In Business (Without Really Trying) which if for those not in the know is a broadway musical which is currently starting Daniel Radcliffe. By going I got to check od two things on my list, as well as meet and just generally be in the presence of Harry Pot- I mean Daniel Radcliffe. Who is this cute little pint-size ball of perfectness, both in the play and in everything else he decides to do. Here is some picture evidence.

Pint Size Perfection

Now anyone who knows me also knows about my deep love of Harry Potter, this was huge. I might have been interested in the play because he was in it but it truly was an a great show with  great cast. We got box seats, only because I didn't sleep, drank all night, meet some interesting New York characters and waited in line an obscene amount but it was all work it.

While we were in the city, I also got to stop by my girl Carrie's Brownstone, did some Karaoke horribly and all around just enjoyed my time.

So to numbers 32, which is only partially done as I have four more broadway plays to see and to 79 which is totally done. Hoorah.

I am holding on to this until an Ebay Payout

I might also be a little too old to this excited about this kind of stuff, but Peter Pan says, whatevs.

P.S- This puts me like second degrees from every major amazing British Actor known to man and that list includes Mr Darcy, I mean Colin Firth and if I think hard enough Jude Law.

Smiles

Yes, That is me with a Tony Winner. You're Jeal.

strip me.

Everyday I fight for
All my future somethings
A thousand little wars
I have to choose between
I could spend a lifetime
Earning things that I don't need
But that's like chasing rainbows
And coming home empty




I'm changing.  Everyday I feel this shift in myself that seems like puzzle pieces moving about to find their place in the new landscape of the person I am becoming. There are a few things that I can pin point that I know changed the person that I could have become.


Constant Vigilance, I have learned so much from the Harry Potter series and the biggest lesson has to that of keeping your eyes open and to always proceed with caution, but not to the point it cripples you. Constant vigilance is simply understanding that its always important to take a second and closer look, to know that not everything is as it seems, and that not everything is going to be the way we imagined it was. Its understanding that rush judgement can and will forsake us.  I know that every single Harry Potter fan has their story, of why this series means so much to them, and my story is at one point in my childhood, Harry Potter was my imaginary friend who was there when no one else was, who was there when I was trying to fit in and the new world that I suddenly had to call home. It made me realize that it was okay to be different, that our differences actually enrich our interactions and make the world an interesting place to be. This is what I will always carry with me, that my experiences, my friends and my choices are making me into the the person that I am and will become with more living. 

everyday is a school day.

Earlier on today, I got tagged in  blog post from Liadee but all I could read from it was that is was going to be a post about what her friends have taught her, and I couldn't read it right then so I got to thinking, what is it that I have taught someone, what mark have I left on her and on others what would warrant a mention. I was not entirely sure that I had taught anyone anything really. At the end of the day we are the sum total of those people and the lessons and impressions  they left on us and we chose to hang to to.  Those lessons we do hang on to are those we then pass on to others even if we don't realize it that we are leaving a part of ourselves to those we spend time with.

Once I got a chance to read what worldly lesson I had imparted to her, I couldn't help but laugh, because that same lesson is one my mother has been teaching ever since I could remember. Mama always said don't be stupid, think twice before you jump,  be practical. Of course during my rebellion years I did just the opposite and I got to learn some things about myself, the world and the people in th because of it. 

the twenty something plight

the hardest thing for twenty somethings, well for me at least is that its harder to make make real friends now that it was back then. It's not so much as making friends than it is the wanting the have the friends you have in the same vicinity has you, but that gets harder and harder as people move away and move on. So you fall into a routine because you have suddenly found yourself in a 9 to 5 which when you were younger you swore you wanted because it would fix all those life ending situations only a teenager can have, but no amount of Dolly Parton singing will turn back time, but this is what you wanted right? right? After work, are exhausted and you just want to sleep. and you repeat process. 

Sometimes I just want to scream that I want my friends back, my old life back, or something which I don't really know because another thing I can't seem to be able to so is made a life decision. figures. 

the journey is home.

A recurring theme in my life as been trying to figure out were home is. Looking back, I have even talked about it when I went back to Zimbabwe after so many years away. I am forever trying to reconcile my Zimbabwean heritage with my American upbringing and my need to explore the rest of the world to find those pieces of myself in those yet to be discovered places. I find myself being uncomfortable with being in the same place all the time, I have travelled away from home at very opportunity since I can remember and in the recent months, I have gone above and beyond to prove that. It might have something to do with hating my job, but that's another story, another dollar. In the recent months so many changes have taken place and what I can say I have taken way from it is that for me at least, I have figured out that the journey is home. The constant exploration of new and old places and faces is what grounds me when the positive is hard to find or I am at my wits' end. Figuring out where home is like a piece of the puzzle that is my so called life slotting into place, discovering something about myself that settles the constant questions that are forever swirling relentlessly in my mind.

It's been months since I have felt like putting my thoughts down and I am glad I am getting my mojo back. It's definitely time to start again.

you can't text message break-up:

"Now,not wanting to change it but having to change it? That takes everything you've got."- John Mayer

I have always hated text messaging, as I much prefer the swift phone call, but I went along with the times and joined the texting train. There is so much about texting that has always irritated me, you send a message and then you wait for the response, when you could have just called and said whatever it is that needs to be said. However, in today's world people seem to be losing the spoken word. I get it sometimes you can't talk because you are in a meeting, at work or around other people whatever the case maybe, but I think there should be some times that you can't text. Conversations that are too delicate and too important to have though text messages. Imagine a text message proposal, no one accepts that so why should it be acceptable for people avoid conversations by texting them. There are issues with how someone can receive a message and it reads like its not meant to and you end up with people putting words in your mouth and things get out of hand. That's why Carrie went crazy over being broken up with on a post it note,  I say post it note, text message, Dear John letters, emails or whatever shouldn't be used, its not right, it demeans the relationship, it says you are not even worth a phone call or even an in person conversation. 

So this is a pledge I am making to myself. I will no longer be using text message as means of communication. I will call, maybe leave a message and that's that. One good thing is I can now stop giving AT&T $10 per month for unlimited texting because I won't be needing it. I can actually even use that ten bucks to treat myself to some marathons at the $1.50 movie theatre. When a door closes, a window opens and all that jazz.