A new beginning...

In 7 days, I'm moving to Spain.

Here's a step-by-step guide to how this kind of thing starts:

step 1: become a workaholic. be serious and responsible for 10 years (and think often about changing your life)
step 2: buy a condo. (and think often about changing your life)
step 3: fall in love. (think about changing your life in a good way)
step 4: agree to move to Germany with the person you fell in love with.
step 5: get unceremoniously dumped.
step 6: take a stand. decide (finally) to change your life.

So that's essentially how it happened. That's the short story. And now I'm 7 days away from a move that could be the best or worst experience in my life. I'm flying by the seat of my pants, I have no job, no place to live, and no plan.

The weirdest part about it is that I don't feel scared. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I can't see 2 months into the future, but I have this strange zen-like calm about the whole thing. That's really unusual for someone as neurotic as I am. It's this calm that makes me know that I've made the right decision -- whether the experience is good or bad, it will be a key moment in my life.

I've spent the last couple years searching for a person that I used to be -- a person who was passionate and excited. A person who laughed and talked to strangers. A person who felt intensely about politics, literature, music, and social issues. I lost her for a while. But as soon as I made the decision to go to Spain, I caught a glimpse of her. The closer I get to this trip, the more she appears.

And that's definitely a start.

Merry Christmas.