11.11.24 // I've Shifted

I think I've shifted.
.
Not because of my hobbies or the thoughts that course through my mind, but for the first time in my life, I feel like I've shifted by the places I've visited that I'd written off and now look at with curiosity.
.
This past weekend in LA was a prime example of that shift feeling so tangible.
.
In the past, I have ALWAYS written off LA. I had popped through LA a couple of times when I was calling Bishop, California home, and I had two work trips that took me down to Southern California from San Francisco. When I visited, I was gentle but still judgmental. I was completely closed off to Southern California being remotely aligned with me. I took pride in being more aligned with the Sierra and the Bay Area and let that ego block me from seeing the city I was visiting for the good, not just the things that challenged me.
.
Maybe I wasn't ready to let the Southern California sun warm my hard exterior, which had been honed to success in tech and mountain sports.
.
But this past trip, I let the sun warm my skin, I let conversations with strangers flow, I indulged in deep breaths of the eucalyptus in Laurel Canyon, I smiled at the street performers, and let myself feel lighter in the city limits that used to leave me suffocating on the smog and traffic.
.
I don't think LA has changed. I think I have.
.
Change may be the only constant in life, but when you start to truly see it in yourself, it’s extraordinary. Noticing who you once were gently fading away, making room for new growth, is a beautiful thing. Often, change happens in such small steps and over such a long time that it’s barely noticeable. But I'm grateful to feel this transformation within me as I revisit familiar horizons with fresh eyes.
.
LA is not the first place that has felt different to me as the years have passed, and the versions of myself have shifted and shaped with the promise of change.