Thursday, June 16, 2011

Running and reflection.

We got back to Seattle yesterday after spending our last day laying low- going to the gym and then spending time with family who came over to celebrate my grandpa's 92nd birthday (which happens to be today-WOAH! 92 years young!)

It's always hard for me to leave Kansas City, I guess because I do have so many fond memories there as well as so much history. And, of course, friends and family. I feel perpetually guilty when I'm back there because I wish I WAS there more- for my family, friends, and just because I do miss all that the midwest encompasses. This time in particular I was moved by the thunderstorms and just the pure essence of summer in the midwest that takes me straight back to my childhood...it's like a giant warm fuzzy blanket that you never want to forget- the smells, the warmth, the feel of it around you. But then, I'm back here in Seattle and though very different from the midwest, I realize that I DO love this city. It DOES feel like home. I WOULD miss it if I were to leave.

I'm not sure if I'll ever not feel guilty about not living in Kansas City but I do know that I made the best decisions I could for my life and so far, they've worked. I have a good life, a good job, and I've met incredible people along the way. And even though I'm physically far away, it's really not THAT far... a measly 3 hour flight, right? I was thinking about all of this today on my run on a gorgeous Seattle day after leaving one of my favorite clients, a day where I appreciate all of the beauty that is Seattle and really enjoy what I do up here. I don't know what the right answer is and if it's normal to always feel this sort of internal conflict or tug between choosing where you sometimes feel the pressure to be versus where you want to be (and sometimes you really do want to be in both places!) but I do and I guess I'll just embrace it. It is difficult to live away from a place where you do have history but you also have to make the decisions that are best for you...and visit "home" as much as possible. Anyway, enough reflecting.  Pictures from the run:



On my run, I saw little kids running around in bathing suits. It was 60 degrees outside. Now THAT is a true "Seattle-ism" that will always crack me up, especially after my Phoenix summers of 115 million degrees. 60 degrees = brrr no matter how you slice it. Oh well, I guess it is at least evidence or a hope that summer is truly around the corner up here in the pacific northwest.

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