Portland Day
Welcome to Portland Day! It was three years ago that I arrived in Portland. It was my big move from Philadelphia to the West Coast. The trip took me eight days with a couple stops along the way. When I got to Portland I went to Riverfront Park and threw my key chain in the river. I took my keys car keys off it first. My parent's house keys are somewhere at the bottom of the Willamette River. I confider Portland Day to be my own private holiday.
I am a person who thinks it is important to celebrate anniversary's. It is a good way to remind ourselves how quickly time passes. I think that we miss the passage of time if we are careful. I am always amazed at swiftly the world around me changes. From my point of view it seems like nothing changes. I need to slow down and look around to see those changes.
It is hard for me to tell the people around me here in Silicon Valley why today is important to me. It was a huge jump when I moved to Portland. I was moving to a city where I did not know anyone, did not have a job, and did not have a place to stay. I was just going to take a chance that I would be able to find something. I was shedding all the comforts of Warminster to look for adventure.
The people that know me now did not know me then. When I was still in Warminster my life was going nowhere. I was working a job I hated. I was working for a company that offered me no future. All of my really close friends had already moved on to other cities. There was nothing tying me to that area anymore. I knew that I had to leave that town.
I packed up everything that I owned and moved to the West Coast. It is now three years later and I am still here. I can say that the move was successful. I was able to find a job. I found jobs that I could build one on top of another. I have been able to build some kind of life. It is not the live that I pictured in my dreams, but it is not my worst nightmares either.
For the last couple of days I have been e-mailing some of the people I knew in Portland. One of them told me I should move back there. There is something about Portland that still holds a place in my heart. I often find myself missing that city. I miss the things I could do while I was there. I miss the things I could do with my time and the places I could go.
If I had to move back to Philadelphia, I would not be defeated. My tail would not be between my legs as I made my way back. Part of me would like to find a way to really move back Philadelphia. I miss my family and friends. I miss a lot of little things about the area.
I do not know where I will be this time next year. I might be here in San Jose in the same job, in the same apartment I sit in right now. I might have fled San Jose for another city. I might be back in Philadelphia trying to figure out the next direction my life might take. The world is still a wide open place. I can only guess what the next year has for me.
I am a person who thinks it is important to celebrate anniversary's. It is a good way to remind ourselves how quickly time passes. I think that we miss the passage of time if we are careful. I am always amazed at swiftly the world around me changes. From my point of view it seems like nothing changes. I need to slow down and look around to see those changes.
It is hard for me to tell the people around me here in Silicon Valley why today is important to me. It was a huge jump when I moved to Portland. I was moving to a city where I did not know anyone, did not have a job, and did not have a place to stay. I was just going to take a chance that I would be able to find something. I was shedding all the comforts of Warminster to look for adventure.
The people that know me now did not know me then. When I was still in Warminster my life was going nowhere. I was working a job I hated. I was working for a company that offered me no future. All of my really close friends had already moved on to other cities. There was nothing tying me to that area anymore. I knew that I had to leave that town.
I packed up everything that I owned and moved to the West Coast. It is now three years later and I am still here. I can say that the move was successful. I was able to find a job. I found jobs that I could build one on top of another. I have been able to build some kind of life. It is not the live that I pictured in my dreams, but it is not my worst nightmares either.
For the last couple of days I have been e-mailing some of the people I knew in Portland. One of them told me I should move back there. There is something about Portland that still holds a place in my heart. I often find myself missing that city. I miss the things I could do while I was there. I miss the things I could do with my time and the places I could go.
If I had to move back to Philadelphia, I would not be defeated. My tail would not be between my legs as I made my way back. Part of me would like to find a way to really move back Philadelphia. I miss my family and friends. I miss a lot of little things about the area.
I do not know where I will be this time next year. I might be here in San Jose in the same job, in the same apartment I sit in right now. I might have fled San Jose for another city. I might be back in Philadelphia trying to figure out the next direction my life might take. The world is still a wide open place. I can only guess what the next year has for me.
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