Cocoon Shedding

People seem to be impressed with or at least like to acknowledge my seemingly nonchalant attitude about taking on new cities and/or adventures. The truth is, if you know me at all, I am hardly unflappable. But there is a time for panic and a time for problem solving. A crisis only gets worse if you do the former for too long.

Anyways, this isn't about that...

I have too many friends who talk about leaving, but don't. Finances aside, the getting up and going isn't that hard. You just do it.

Starting a new life in a new city, you can be whoever you want to be, unattached to the connotations of your former self. That was your old life; that was the old you.

Starting over is easy. You get a clean slate.

It's deciding which pieces of your old self you want to keep that is difficult. Which parts do you take along with you on your new adventure, and which are meant to be left behind?

Lately, I've described myself as an emotional hoarder. I seem to love the people I meet, the things I do, the places I see just way too much, too often, and perhaps too long. Rather than outgrowing interests and relationships, I try to keep them all. I don't know if that's good or bad. Maybe both.

Which parts do you take along with you on your new adventure, and which are meant to be left behind?

That is something I'm still trying to figure out for myself.