Not being new

Well, it's official — I no longer feel like the new girl.

I've been at my job for about four months now, which means I've been in the Charlotte area for about that long -- and the overwhelming feeling of newness has started to wear off. I feel a bit of a change.

For starters, I'm not the newest to my work, and I'm not the newest person that I know in the Queen City. A number of new people have started at my place of employment since I started, and I feel like my place has been established and people actually know who I am. As far as knowing people in the QC, just today I got lunch which an old friend I haven't seen in years who just moved to Charlotte.

I still have tons to learn and countless places to explore, don't get me wrong, but it feels great to be in a position where I can tell others about something. It gives me a feeling of ownership, and empowerment.

In that vein, I finally feel like these are my stomping grounds. I have taken great pride in where I live, but it took a little while to let go of where I left.

I recently went back to Harrisonburg, Virginia to visit Ben and friends, and I had the opportunity to speak to a class while there. I've only been out of college for a matter of months now, so that experience alone was crazy and wonderful. But even more crazy and wonderful was what came out of it. As I talked about the process of applying for jobs, starting in my field and beginning my career it all really hit me.

Stories about college now feel like just that. I felt less like a college kid trying to make it in the real world, and more like a plucky young adult figuring things out and loving it. Of course, I loved being back in Harrisonburg, I always do. But I was still happy to return to Charlotte when it was time to leave.

I've said this before in other words and I'll say it again, but memories are not married to their physical properties. I can look back fondly on my time at James Madison University without physically being there. The fact that I love my life now and I love the city I live in does not diminish the life I had in my time in the mountains, or any other past phase of life.

Right now, everything feels right. That's all that matters.