I have lived in 3 countries, 5 states and 10 cities in my 26 years. I have moved 7 times (just between cities, not houses) in the past 8 years. This means I've had to make new friends 7 times. Yet, somehow every time seems to feel like the first time. You conveniently forget the process of making friends when you leave one city. All you think about is how much you'll miss the friends you are leaving, but that you will undoubtedly make friends in your new city. You will, but not the day you move there. It's easy to have selective memory when it comes to this all important aspect of relocating.
And somehow it only seems to get more complicated when you get older. Frankly, I love the friends that I have a am convinced that I have more than enough of them. However, only 2 of them live in my current location and as a social butterfly this is not nearly enough. Dilemma. Further complicating this current issue is that in my old age (ha!) I have definitely become far more discerning when it comes to forming friendship. I no longer feel the need to bond with the first person that appears to share a similar interest and hope that it works out. It rarely does, which I have learned the hard way one too many times.
So I struggle and simultaneously try to convince any friend with a slight interest to move to Portland. I busy myself with the hours of reading assigned to me each week and half-heartedly search for a job. I countdown to my boy bestie's visit and look forward to the holidays with an enthusiasm I haven't had since childhood. I reflect on how I am in the exact opposite situation I was in in Phoenix; I'm now in a city I love but have very few people to share it with.
Please, don't misunderstand me; I'm not sad or even lonely. I'm taking time to contemplate and focus.
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