Visiting LA was amazing and confusing. I never imagined that I would miss LA, but I do. I think?
This week I visited Los Angeles. It was my first extended trip since I walked away from the city of wandering angels.
I met up with old friends and revisited familiar locations that I abruptly left almost four years ago. Jumping into the past is both energizing and intimidating. Will I feel disconnected from my old friends? Will I want to stay in the past? Will this trip trigger an existential crisis that will leave me curled up in a ball screaming, “Who am I?!?”
The longer I’ve lived away from Los Angeles the more I’ve romanticized it. I conveniently forgot the aimless journey I was taking there, long nights crying myself to sleep or staring at the ocean sky hoping life would finally happen.
I moved to Los Angeles when I was 20 after being offered an assistant position at an actor’s production company. It took me five years to realize that I didn’t want to put someone before me for the rest of my life, and I moved to Austin to take a stab at the one thing I knew for certain I enjoyed — writing. Though I still have a very long way to go, I can’t believe that a goal I set out to achieve (becoming a professional writer) has actually materialized. I would not have been able to do this in LA. Austin has brought me more professional and creative joy than I ever could have dreamed of in Los Angeles.
Please do not tell any more Angelenos how nice Austin is. Our official story is that Austin sucks, the water is poisoned, the locals are mean and aggressive, and the city is full of homeless people who want to stab you with AIDS infected needles.
Haha. Ok.
If you miss it, please go back. We don’t need more folks from California invading Austin and ruining it…
Gosh, I didn’t know I was ruining it.
that’s a pretty rude thing to say. you clearly don’t know the author or you’d know she’s a really fantastic addition to any city.
awwwww, thanks metro!
I think you’re great but stay on message. Austin is awful and don’t move here, for the love of god move to detroit where people are nice.
As much as I love LA….I like Austin as well. It’s on my “Places to move when I get sick of LA” list.
Your return trip also had the benefit of a vacation. Whenever you know you’ll be in a place for a limited time, you’re able to ignore or toss aside those same things that you would normally hate. Glad you came to the final conclusion that you did, though!
This post lacks a half-naked David Duchovney.