A New Beginning

I've decided to pick up blogging here again. Everyone seemed to enjoy it during my time in Africa, so I thought I'd continue the tradition of cataloging new steps in my life. Next week I start work at the Baha'i Publishing Trust, which will necessitate a move to the Chicago area. It will be my first "real" job, as well as my first time living away from home. People seem to think that my time in Africa will have prepared me well for being on my own but I know it didn't provide me with the sort of practical experience that would assist in a place like Chicago. But I'm steeling myself for a lot of baptism by fire, which I know is soon to come!

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to Chicago with my parents to try to find an apartment. Next Tuesday I leave for Atlanta for training. It's a little unclear at this point how long that might take, but I was encouraged to find a place in Chicago "as soon as possible." Since I'll be working during the week starting Tuesday with only the weekends off (flying back and forth between Little Rock and Atlanta), I've had to give myself a crash course in apartment finding so that hopefully we can pin down a few leads up there between tomorrow and Sunday. Aside from scouting out the area, it will give my parents an opportunity to visit the Baha'i House of Worship and see the area where I'll be working and living, which I hope will ease whatever anxiety they may have about the move.

Incidentally, I won't be living and working in Chicago itself. I'll actually be working in a little town called Wilmette (also home to the Temple) and hopefully living in either Wilmette or Evanston. My goal is either to live within easy driving distance or near enough to public transportation that I can take the EL or bus to work. Thankfully, the office is half a block from an EL stop so that simplifies things. It's actually a great relief to me that I won't be forced to live and work in Chicago. While I enjoy the amenities of a large city, I don't necessarily think I'd enjoy living in one. The Wilmette/Evanston area (especially Wilmette) is a pleasant area, largely residential, with tree-lined streets and nice little shops and restaurants. It's far more reminiscent of my home town than a place with the hustle and bustle of downtown Chicago. But it's a comfort to know that all the greatness that is the city is only half an hour or so away so that a young person like me who is supposed to be (in theory) enjoying life can partake in all that the city has to offer.

For all the excitement of leaving my home and striking out on my own for the first time in my life, it's still a little bittersweet. I've lived here all my life (save a brief jaunt to Tanzania) so I have a certain attachment to the place. The South is a very unique place filled with unique people and unique experiences, and I'll be hard pressed to find its warmth and comfort in a place like Chicagoland. I'll also be leaving the Baha'i community in which I've essentially been raised (in the Faith), where I've served side-by-side with loving people for four years now. They are very much like my family and leaving them will be just as difficult as leaving my actual family.

But still the excitement outweighs the anxiety and the worries, the sadness and the reluctance to leave behind everything you know. As `Abdu'l-Baha said, "A moving object is a living object whereas that which is motionless and inert is as dead." It seems that I've been "as dead" long enough, so here's to movement and life.