Be the change you want to see.

I'm glad that I spent my 20s in Seattle.

When I left the Midwest, I had a few things that I needed to work on. Since I was only 21, I had no idea that I needed to work on any aspect of my personality. There's sort of a combative vibe in that corner of the world, one based largely on unfortunate circumstance of economics that has seeped into the culture. I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Midwest, but I often wonder how I would've turned out had I stayed.

When I was 24, it dawned on me that maybe the problem wasn't everyone else... maybe MY attitude had something to do with how people treated me. It's physics. Every action has an equal & opposite reaction. I read books on New Age-y philosophies & worked hard on being a nicer person. During that time I wrote constantly, filling notebooks to work out the knots. It felt good to be kind.

At 27, I took a personal inventory & weeded out the stuff that made me unhappy. I made some unpopular decisions about who I did & did not want in my life, as well as what I wanted out of life. A weight of frustration was lifted from my shoulders. A change of cast & scenery did wonders for an improved perspective & prospects for a joyful life.

By 30, I'd had my fill of unnecessary negativity & disrespect. To cultivate a life of positivity, one can't sow seeds of pessimistic criticism. Sometimes it's hard to deliver that message, but I just won't tolerate that sort of nonsense in myself or the people that I surround myself with. Honoring that choice has improved the nature of more than one key relationship in my life.

Now I'm going to work on eliminating petty criticism & judgement from my daily vocabulary. Breaking others down is not a constructive way to build myself up. It only serves to perpetuate negativity & that's not what I want to build my life on.

I owe a debt to this city. I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to grow into adulthood with one of Seattle's premier businesses, which is built on a foundation of respect & dignity. I don't think that I would have had those values drilled into me in any other venue. More importantly, I'm forever thankful for the amazing friends that I've made in this city. They're warm, good humored, endlessly generous, & they keep me honest. XO