Set your intentions...Build your community

Portland captured during a rooftop conversation, paired with a cup of coffee

I am slowly relocating.
Relocating my passions
Relocating my efforts
Relocating my love
My time
My process
My meditation.

I feel myself disconnecting from my home.

When I packed my bags and headed for Europe I was a 19 year old kid ready to experience another culture and another way of thinking. I hardly looked back at the home and the town that I was leaving.  I knew "MoTown" (Monmouth), my small college town, would be right there waiting for me when my Euros ran out and my clothes had reached the utmost level of stank. Sure enough, months later, there she was, just the same.

I have been a residence of this town for nearly seven years now. The thought of that gives me a sense of pride and a conflicting demand that I damn well deserve an award for lasting this long. I've had short stints of living in neighboring cities and one stint of moving home completely, devoting 2 hours a day to my commute, but alas, Monmouth was home.

Though lately my college town has turned into a crash pad. Home to my skis and gear, home to my Sly's automated food dispenser, home to my comfy bed, but no longer home to my soul.

My gravitational pull with moving to the city began about a year ago. I slowly deepened my memberships with Portland causes that I supported, and without realizing it, found excuses to head north on the 5. I planted myself right into the Portland community. I now serve on two Portland  boards' programming committees, I am dating a great man who lives and works in Portland, and am deep in the interview process and job hunt seeking development work in the metro area.

I am setting my intentions to become a part of this community. I feel a connection stronger than any connection that I've ever felt with a hometown. Some people move to the country when they feel this, but I yearn to move to a city who runs on volunteerism and giving.

I know it may sound odd, but I also feel that Monmouth is letting me go. She is ready for me to expand and move closer to the mountain, the desert, my community, and my partner. I finally feel ready. I am not leaving out of spite or challenge (though Monmouth has a way of driving people out, trust me), and I am not leaving knowing that she will always be there to catch me. I am leaving town knowing that I will never again live here--but forever thankful of all she gave me.

I am setting my intentions and packing my boxes.

I can't tell you how excited I am.