Joe-Less in Cleveland

Last night I watched television for the last time in my house amongst stacks of cardboard boxes. Joe has been in Denver since Friday after what sounded like a wonderful trek across the United States with my younger brother, Nathan. (Shout-out: Thanks Natey! You rock!)

Being in Cleveland feels weird now. Sort of like I don't belong anymore? All my stuff is getting put in a moving van as we speak. I've said goodbye to so many people already. We've been celebrating our last bout in Cleveland with too much food and booze for a long time at this point. So really what am I still doing here?

Well Nate is graduating for one thing and there is no way in hell I would miss my little bro graduating from college! I mean wow, what an accomplishment! But beyond that this time is sort of special to me. It will be the last time I will be alone (well Joe-less) with my mom and my little brother, Michael, like it was back in the day, just our little family unit (again shout-out to Natey, we miss you!) I would like to enjoy my family right up to the last second we are together, because why the hell not. I love these people. They have been through everything with me and I'm gonna miss them like crazy. So I am going to look at this continued limbo as a gift where I can go on Pizzazz dates with my Momma and do silly errands with my bro, like picking up corsages and buying fountain drinks at McDonalds before his (yes his) mani (for prom, lol).

I am finishing this blog post sitting at my mom's table after I have essentially moved back in with my mom for the very last time. I am feeling a little existential and maybe a little melancholy right now. So much is changing (I am moving to another state) and so much will still change even once I get there (I will start a new job eventually...I will get married...woah!) I just feel like I am existing right now on the cusp of life. It is one of those moments you hit and you know you will be vastly different on the other side. Like when you grow out of your first love, graduate from college, experience your first real job...get engaged. It just seems so epic you don't even know what you are feeling. Well anyway it is just too indescribable so I think I will spare you the gory details and leave you with a Ghandi quotation that I like.

“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” Ghandi

Carpe Diem!

Today is my first week of non-work, work and I'd say it falls on a pretty momentous and significant day. Today is not only the second inauguration of President Obama but it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day as well. How much more symbolic could this day get as far as living the dream, making changes and seizing the day goes? On that note I would like to give you a few quotes to sit on as you go about your daily activities.

"If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."  MLK Jr.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Obama

Think about these two men we get to celebrate today. They represent the progress we have made as a nation and that is beautiful but they also represent the future and that there is no time like the present to DO things. I may not currently be working on the momentous things that they were/are like equality or ramping back U.S. spending, but I am working towards their ultimate goal which is happiness and (inner)peace.

So to turn the symbolic meanings of this day inward it is yet another reminder that I should just LIVE life and not worry so much. There is no one else on this earth who can propel me on my most productive, my most inspirational, my most meaningful life path then me. From today onward I would like to propel my own self closer to happiness and peace one small project at a time starting with the clothes that are waiting to be donated in my closet!

Before I really get down to the nitty gritty of de-cluttering I would like to leave you with one last gem of wisdom bestowed on us by Mr. Obama, "Why can't I just eat my waffle?" Now ponder that!