I tend to get cranky when I’m not creating. And I’m not creating when I’m working 12 hr days/7 days/wk and that’s the roll I’m on now. Luckily, my old friend The Universe has a way of intervening with crazy curve balls just when I’m settled in. Like right about now.
The UWS building I live in is being sold and I have to move out by the end of October. WHAAAAT?? This is my favorite neighborhood where I actually know my neighbors and recognize people and their dogs, this being a major dog walking street, a straight shot to Riverside Park and the Hudson River. For the past 2+ years I’ve been living a “Cheers” life where everybody at least knows my face, where my garage guys have my car out and waiting for me every morning so I won’t be late for work, where my nail ladies give me extra long shoulder rubs after any procedure, where the grocery delivery guys from Westside Market stay and chat a moment after dropping my grocery bags in the same place each time. In that human way of connection, I love these people and see them as city-friends.
So really, now I have to move?
Who am I going to make extra meatballs for now that Nadine won’t be my downstairs neighbor?
She gets to stay because she’s rent-controlled, having lived in her apartment for more than 30 years. She’s been such a gift to me.
But this being NYC, things move fast and I need to focus and get creative. When I need to open the creation spigot, I read anything written by Melea Seward, my old buddy who left Brooklyn and moved out to Portland OR. Melea changed my life by encouraging me to own my story, patiently coaxing me out of my sense of stun to dig in and get real again. I joined her “Board of Us” and made excellent friends with other women seeking similar creativity and success. And yes, I also joined the legions of people star struck by her complete and utter genius. Melea must be experienced. She’s one of the Wonders of the World. I just read her last 5 blogs.
So now off I go to find a new neighborhood filled with friends I just haven’t met yet, kinda pumped by the possibilities, surfing that creative surge.