Pendulum
I had a weird confluence of different eras of my life today that brought me both longing and joy. ERA I: I was really fortunate to spend my entire life in one place until my mission. While that might have robbed me of some of the things kids learn as they relocate—resilience, an ability to make friends in new situations, etc.—it also provided me with a lot of stability that fostered the development of long term relationships that I still treasure to this day. I feel immense tenderness towards my hometown and the people I associate with Tucson by virtue of having so much personal history with that place/them. Tucson is so pretty. As I revisited old blog posts and spent a long time thinking about things I’ve experienced today, I couldn’t help but feel very far removed from that part of my life. I looked at photos of my pre-mission life and felt some embarrassment at who I was then (who wasn’t periodically very awkward in their young adulthood?), but also some envy for the ...