My relationship with reality is “challenging,” but it’s in the physical world where I struggle most. Walls jump out at me, stairs appear unexpectedly. I even have issues with smooth pavement. Nevertheless, moving has been the one real constant in my life.

I lived in three different counties in NJ, and one in PA, by the time I was in first grade. My record is seven and a half years in the same house until the middle of 8th grade, then it was back to PA. Moved to Philly to go to college. Moved several times in college, to different neighborhoods and sometimes more than once in a year.

After college, I just kept it up. Eventually I moved to Costa Rica for three years. My constants were my grandparents’ homes. I’m not complaining. That’s just been my life. But the time has come again. It’s time to move.

One of the benefits of hypervigilance is that sometimes I’m right! Something is actually wrong, and I need to do something about it. On their last day of work before everything closed down during the Pandemic, I told my partner to pick up a pack of toilet paper on the way home. That toilet paper saved us a lot of heartache (and pain elsewhere).

I have that itchy, restless feeling again. The time has come. It’s time to move. Most of my life moving was forced upon me. This time it’s a choice, but for the right reasons. I believe getting a little farther from people with a bit of green is what I need to do. And I want a dog. I need a dog friend.

It’s just so frickin hard. I haven’t lived here long, and I never fully unpacked. I knew this wasn’t forever. But there is still so much to do. And it’s hard for me to keep up with my life and all my little routines that make me feel OK.

Unfortunately coffee started hating me about a year ago. I tried some last week. I’ve never done meth, but I sure cleaned out my closet on coffee! My tummy, however, was not happy.

I’m not in tech, but I do tend to move fast and break stuff. I also end up injuring myself. Coffee did not help this condition. So I guess I’ll have to rely on loathing and that itchy feeling telling to get my ass in gear.

I’m still waiting to see which way to jump in terms of how drastic a move this will be. It may be to a half hour drive away. But Spain is really nice too. I could live in Barcelona. I’ve been there, so I can even pronounce it. I don’t speak Catalán, but my Costa Rican and Mexican TV Spanish are solid. I even know how one calls The Beatles en español. (Los Quatros Grandes.)

Whatever I decide, I would like to break my seven year record. We’ll see. Pasito a pasito.

Our kind originally came from Ethiopia, and now we’re everywhere. Moving on, looking for greener pastures and new opportunities seems to be what we do. And we’re really good at it. Other animals follow rains, prey or have special islands where they mate. We just pull up stakes and start over somewhere completely new when things get dodgy. That’s how most of my ancestors ended up here. But I’ll make sure to bring a pack of toilet paper. No knowing how long this shit will last. 

So, legends, I’m setting forth on a new adventure. I’ll frame it as “seeking out new life and new civilizations.” I wrote that in Picard’s voice. I hope that’s how you heard it in your head. What’s your latest mission, quest thing? Tell me, tell me, tell me down below!

Namaste,

J.Lakis

✌🏻❤️‍🩹🏃🏻🚣🏻🏇🏻🛤️🛣️➡️🤟🏼

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