I Told Me So: beginnings, stalemates, and continuations

I thought about starting a new blog. Not that I necessarily wanted to abandon this one...I just wanted to put it on hold for a while. See, I recently started a new life adventure. In July, I moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. Not only did I change cities, I immersed myself in something completely different. You name it, it changed. The weather from four seasons to one and a half. The landscape from lush greens to dry desert sand and rock. My social network from a close-knit group of eight to me and two family members and a handful other loose connections. My space from a room with a bed, desk, serious wall-hangings, and a sizable closet to a floor mat and three suitcases as my closet. When I started "hmm...tell me more", I felt fairly stable and was extremely focused. I was climbing my way to an actual career. Now, in my fifth month of underemployment (I've managed to find a few part-time jobs to keep me afloat), I'm a little stuck...and a lot lost. I'm afraid I don't have much more to muse about when it comes to therapy. Because I'm not providing nor am I receiving it. I am experiencing a loss in momentum for my career, and I'm lagging in my thoughts turned words turned blog. In short, there's not much more to tell on "hmm...tell me more."

I have both therapist's and writer's block. What is an eager professional to do during such a static time? Change things until something starts making sense? I have to say I'm tempted to do that. And I'm pretty sure I've actually done that several million times in my short life. I know that change is good, only because of all of those annoying popular sayings (and then there's the pop psychology claim that the Chinese ideogram for "crisis" is made up of two characters signifying "opportunity" and "danger." I'm skeptical.) While all of those paradoxes that are meant to keep us hoping and moving, I'm not convinced that drastic change, like a complete upheaval, is always the answer.

But in a time when nothing is certain for me, what's keeping me from scrapping everything, moving on, and becoming a serial changer? I don't know, actually. But I do know that most of the things I think I should do, I shouldn't. And really, continuing instead of beginning anew every time I feel uncomfortable will probably be more lasting and gratifying in the end. I'll be able to look back on my journey and see a continuous (albeit curvy) line rather than a smattering of dots and random beginnings. And I'll be able to move forward without wondering if I'm really on the right path.

So as much as I'd like to start a new blog about my adventures in LA, I think I'll continue this one. And incorporate what I experience in LA...the sights and sounds and smells...into it. As much as I want to be a therapist right now, I am much more than a therapist. We'll see what emerges.

P.S. Here are some sights I've taken in. Enjoy, at least half as much as I did: