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April 17, 2006
life in perspective
I went home for Passover last week. It just so happens that the holiday started at a very important time for me to be with my family.
Someone very close to me was diagnosed with a disease that though not fatal, has no cure. It's been a scary and sad and anxiety-ridden week. It puts my paltry problems into clear perspective. It forces me to reconsider things that I thought I had figured out - namely, that I didn't want to move anywhere near home.
It's not just because someone is sick that I'm considering moving home. Sickness reminds us who and what is important in life - health and happiness, clearly, but also the peace of mind that comes from being surrounded by loved ones. As my cousin put it, you don't have to move back to L.A. to be close enough to find strength from your family. I could move to San Diego...or Phoenix and be near my brother and nephews...or Vegas and be near my folks when they retire. It's just that I've always felt like a square peg in a round hole in those places. True, it's not exactly like I've found my place here just yet, but there's so much I love about Chicago - the neighborhood festivals in the summer; Millennium Park; Lake Shore Drive; riding public trans to work everyday....I've never felt this way about a city before. So I dunno. I've got some more thinking to do. And reading on many subjects - from career paths to disease info...
on the bright side, I'm getting a new laptop! Woohoo! I hope I have the arm strength to carry the beast...and, I brought my computer speakers back from L.A., so I'm able to listen to my mp3's with better clarity. So life isn't all bad; it's just in perspective.
Posted by cj at April 17, 2006 08:38 PM