a life update

It seems like I just shared I was moving to Atlanta (August 2024)

It’s funny to read my words back on that essay…“One week I was thinking we might move to Durham, the next, Boston.”

Well, dear readers, we moved to Boston.

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This summer, we made our way to the outskirts of Boston, following the trailhead of an exciting work opportunity for my husband. Last year, we moved from Athens to Atlanta over the course of probably 20 car trips. We packed and unpacked our car to the brim over and over, so we didn’t have the experience of needing “EVERYTHING” packed all at once. This time around, all our stuff had to fit in the POD that late-May day. I still can’t believe the stamina it takes to simply put shit in boxes. Wow.

We landed in Massachusetts in the golden shine of summer and boy did we summer. We were buzzing with moving adrenaline and hit the ground running. We went to the beach, a baseball game, a play, and hosted family. Our schedule was jam packed with visits from family and friends, a trip to Maine, two to NYC, and the jostled chaos one feels having to use Google Maps to get to the grocery store.

I’ve leaned into I’m new here energy. I ask people what I need to see. I sit on the train gazing at the skyline. I roll my eyes at the minor inconveniences of city living. I keep vision narrowed towards small delights in my new neighborhood. In many ways, I feel relief to live in the Northeast. I am relieved to be in a place we likely will stay for a while. I am relieved to feel grounded after 10 months of “how-long-will-we-live-here” in Atlanta. I also am glad to live in such a beautiful place with so much happening.

Amongst this busy season, people kept asking me some variation of: How’s Boston?/Do you like Boston?

My breath would catch every time.

“I’m not sure yet.” I’d say. I was being honest.

The move felt right and logically was the right choice but that doesn’t take away from the challenge of moving across the country. (Did you know moving is in the top five life stressors?) The challenge of moving to a new place, far from home, far from what’s familiar is no small feat. And for me, three-ish months isn’t enough to figure out how it all feels.

Transitions are hard for me (many of us) and the last couple years of my life have been colored with so much change.

I was swept up by the logistics/chaos of moving which kept my mind busy, and as the dust has settled, I can see with more clarity all that was woken up by this move. The fears for the success (or failure?!) of my business. Stress about financial burdens. Worry I won’t be able to handle the winter. Leaving my beloved community behind. Sadness I am far from my family. Tending to my heart and parts has demanded so much of me. All that was familiar was peeled away. I am attempting to greet those parts with gentleness and doing my best to listen to them with trust and reverence (instead of silencing them).

As a result of this, I sense that I will look back at this move as a moment of transformation in my life. Moving forces transformation. It is impossible to continue living the way you were before. This is so uncomfortable. There is no chill. It is a big freaking deal. And likely, on the other side, I will know myself better, know my desires more intimately, and feel that inner sturdiness knowing that I made it through.

Sometimes I wonder how other people take care of themselves during emotionally taxing times…here are some things that feel so comforting to me:

• Support from my family, friends, and colleagues

• Revisiting Pema Chödrön’s books

• Reading How to Be a Living Thing by the fabulous Mari Andrew

• Morning writing and movement

• Hot soups

• Walks outside

• Therapy

• Embodied dance sessions with my sangha and alone

• Keeping the windows open all the time, staring at the blue sky

• Scrolling on my phone (This does not feel comforting, but rather, it can be numbing. Not ideal but it did happen!)

I moved my business, Nutrition Made Well, to Massachusetts and applied to be licensed to provide nutrition counseling to clients residing in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and North Carolina. Months passed of endless admin tasks, nervous energy, and worry. Interestingly, my “work life” feels similar despite so much change happening behind the scenes. I see clients, chart, do my bookkeeping, network, etc…just in a new space. And yet, everything is different!

Right now, I am imagining how I want my professional self and NMW to exist in this new city (and in digital spaces). I feel a bit like I am in a professional cocoon—perfectly timed for the dip in temperatures and shorter days.

Part of this re-imagining includes More Soon. I have time slotted to spend more time writing these final few months of the year but you might also notice a shift in what is available here on Substack. I am planning to move some of my “practical” nutrition-centric essays to my website. I am hoping Substack can be a landing space for my exploratory pieces: reflections on my own emotional processing (like this), well-being and behavior change explorations (like this), and (hopefully) some guided meditations that are IFS informed and can help you spend more time inside. Once I figure out the tech element of “a blog”, I will update you here in case you really love my nutrition essays (like this, this, or this!).

That’s all for now, thank you for being here.

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