In With the New
It’s been a while since I touched this blog. Turns out a surplus of creativity can be hard to scrounge up after spending 9 hours glued to a computer screen every day. And yet, like my favorite bar on a Saturday night, I keep coming back.
I call myself a city girl, but it dawned on me that I’ve become a complacent city girl these past few months. I spent the summer months exploring my city, meeting new people, letting my proverbial worries blow away on the not-so-proverbial wind. Then fall blew into winter and suddenly I found myself caught up in the 9-5 of it all. Now, this is not a 9-5 slander blog. I enjoy my 9-5, but I fell into a living-for-the-weekend mindset - weekdays were for working hard, my head down at my desk during daylight hours. But when the clock struck 5:30pm on Friday, my computer mouse would make its journey to the red “x” in the lefthand corner of my Slack app, and my real city girl life would begin. I’m not sure where or when this shift happened to be exact, but the adventurous spirit that so surprisingly blossomed in me over the past year felt dampened. Maybe it was the change in weather, or maybe it was a bout of what I like to call “grown-up responsibility stress.” Either way, I felt a shift.
Then recently, it hit me. I’m finally living in the city I’ve dreamt of my entire life, and I’m kind of letting it pass me by. It didn’t start out that way, but somehow it ended up there.
Chicago has so much to offer. Anyone who’s spoken to me in the last year knows how in love with this city I am. At this point, it’s a personality trait. (I do the thing where I take what I love with all my heart and make it a part of my personal brand. Cowboy boots, bagel hunting, Chicago, etc. Some may call it obsessive, I call it quirky.) But after several months of exploring constantly and going out of my way to meet new people, I fell back into my comfort zone. And that’s the last thing I want to do.
And now, a note on comfort zones.
I have spent my entire life in my comfort zone. I never leave. Why would I, when everything inside of it is pretty good? I hate stepping out of it. Or, I should say, hated, because in this year of big change I’ve had, I’ve been forced out of my comfort zone more times than I can count. The first few times were rocky, but I slowly began to enjoy stepping out of my safe little box. When the risks are big, the rewards tend to be even bigger. And while I don’t think I’m anywhere near my peak, stepping out of my comfort zone so much has brought me closer than ever before.
The point of this whole post is, I’ve decided that there is no reason I shouldn’t live my fullest city girl life every day of the week. I might not break my patterns overnight, but I can start somewhere, and I can start now. And you can keep me accountable. I’m pleased to report I’ve been inching back out of my comfort zone over the past few weeks (nothing gets me going like an overly-romanticized new year’s fresh start). Here are some things I’ve done this year already:
Made new friends! I’m still hunting for the perfect recipe for making friends post-grad. It’s a WIP, but I think I’m getting somewhere.
Tried a new workout class. And was immediately and intensely humbled. So I swallowed my pride and went back.
Set boundaries. Some harder than others, a few way harder than others, but all of them necessary in this season of life.
Started wOrKiNg oN MySeLf. I say it with snark, but I really mean it. I’ve been doing Lacy Phillips’ TBM course, and as a skeptic of all things woo woo, it’s been life changing.
Made some new goals. More to come on that later.
And we’re not stopping there! I am determined to squeeze every ounce of experience out of this city, and this life, that I can. For the foreseeable future, or at least for the remainder of 2022, I’m going to do the following every month:
Try one new restaurant or bar
Try one new experience/outing/destination
Try one new makeup product (that’s right, 2022 is the year I finally upgrade from the Urban Decay eyeshadow palette I’ve had since high school)
Try one thing that makes me nervy
This is a year of big moves, I can feel it! Obviously, I’ll be documenting along the way. If anyone wants to join me in this and be my accountability buddy, you know where to find me. Say it with me: I’m a mf city girl.
xo, Ellie