California

 

For most of my adult life I felt like, eventually, I would end up living in California.

At least for a while.

Well, here I am.

And what a circuitous path it has taken to get here!

Short recap:

Lived in Atlanta for 10 years.

Felt blah.

Realized I wasn’t growing.

Called my bro and asked to crash with him for a few months.

Moved (temporarily) to south Florida.

Got “the call” to travel the world working with Semester At Sea.

Journeyed 20,000 nautical miles and saw three continents and visited fourteen countries.

The whole time, I wasn’t sure what I would do after (read blog).

Landed in San Diego.

Was thinking to travel the West Coast and see friends.

I also had an interesting decision to make. The company gave me a free flight back to my original point of departure (Florida), but it came with a restriction: I had to go back there within a few weeks of arrival.

But I just had this very strong feeling inside saying, “NO!” I didn’t want to go back to the East Coast. So… I let go of that free ticket and stayed.

Sometimes, to get what you want, you’ve got to be willing

to give up other things.

 

Crashed with friends in LA and Malibu for a couple of weeks.

Checked Craigslist pretty much everyday to see if I could find something that would give me more than an air mattress to live on.

Found this crazy gig working as an editor with a local Sexologist.

Moved into a sex commune (not really, but…).

And that takes me to the present.

 

How did this all happen?

Just a year ago (almost to the day) I was in Atlanta, trying to decide: should I stay comfortable and renew my lease… or go off into the unknown, with nary a plan.

I took the leap and left.

(My Nissan Versa all packed up.)

Life is funny that way.

I’ll say one thing: my life is definitely not boring right now.

I mean, sometimes it’s boring.

Life is life no matter where you live or go.

Granted, there is something about traveling–real traveling–that pushes you outside of your comfort zone.

Sooner or later, no matter where we are, we get comfortable.

And there is nothing wrong with comfortable…

until there is.

 

But the one thing that took me on this crazy amazing adventure that has me living now in sunny Southern California, with hardly any bills (working for room and board) is this:

I listened.

I listened to what my body, life and spirit were telling me.

Alex, it’s time to leave.

I was scared.

I remember that. I had a great apartment on the Chattahoochee River. Rent was locked in. If I left… there was no going back (to cheap rent in that beautiful place, at least).

I took the leap.

But before any of that, I listened.

And prayed.

And listened some more.

Where do you want me, I implored the Universe.

The Universe/Spirit just said, go.

Kind of like Abraham–just without all that killing your only son business.

 

But I could only hear that little voice because I had been listening.

Do I sound like a broken record yet?

Still listening.

 

Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you.

~Parker Palmer

 

www.alexobed.com