Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Charmed

I realized since I have arrived, I've done a fair bit of "comparing coasts".  Comparing this unfolding new community/new life to the life I lived in Florida.  And I would imagine that is like a mother comparing their children: each one a bit different, each one with its' own peculiarities, flavors, eccentricities. Each one with it's own gloriousness! 
  
However, unlike a mother, at first I was looking to see what was wrong with this coast.  Unconsciously, anyway. I was low on funds on arrival, so the first scab I picked was financial awareness.  The sales tax is so much higher here, the gas is so much more expensive, my goodness even bread.  Why is that?  I could work myself into a royal little snit over this, and snits are never good.  They just turn you cranky and inflexible and focus on all the wrong things.  

I realized I had really been focused on getting here, getting somewhat settled, and not running out of cash before my first paycheck.  In fact, I manifested a last minute payroll crisis, and spent an hour on the phone with the payroll guy (poor man) before the money appeared in my account.  He is just one of many California angels I've met.

I don't mind telling you also that I manifested a $43 parking ticket the first week I was here. Again, consciousness.  I was thinking about the $ ways California was unfavorably different (i.e., more expensive) and that was my experience of it. It's really something, when you are aware of that your "stinking thinking" patterns hold you back, and you do it anyway. Oh well!

But once I had a little breathing room, instead of counting gallons of gas and ramen packets, I could look up and realize...  wow, I am so close to the beach.  I didn't really drive around/realize this before.  Last night I went to the beach and saw dolphins swimming and feeding for at least a half hour.  I couldn't believe a crowd wasn't gathering, that people were not jumping up and down and pointing!  (I wanted to!)  I definitely will be back with my "good camera" next time.   And what an awesome chill spot.  It was windy and fresh, similar to my favorite beach in Florida.  Now extra special with added pelican dive-bombing shows, and the distant barking of seals heard.

The job, I will tell you that I prayed and reiki'd and put good energy into that place/situation before I even stepped into the recovery room for the first time.  I visualized a place where they were friendly to the new nurse (me), professional, skilled, and efficient.  And that's what it is!  I was thinking some of the old places I worked where nurses were gossipy, loud, didn't seem to care, or the system for admitting newly awakened surgery patients into rooms took hours. I could not be more pleased with this contract and employer.  I feel happy and lucky to have landed into such a great spot, temporary or otherwise.

This coast is comparing well.  :-)  Not better, different.  Fabulous and charming in it's own way.

5 comments:

  1. "It's really something, too, when you know that your thinking patterns bite, and you do it anyway. Oh well!"

    Hehehe.... oh yes *nods at that one* :D

    Lovely post though hon. Food for thought :) xx

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  2. I'm w/Julia on this! When we KNOW the way we are thinking about something is absolutely going to manifest what we DON'T want and yet we still do it!? CRAZY!! But, being aware that we are aware is the beginning of change. As Abraham would say, it's all about the contrast! You've shared great contrast in what you are manifesting in this entry!

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  3. Thanks for sharing this! I think you made the right choice :)

    I went through the same thing when I first moved to California. It was easy to stay removed from what was going on, by comparing it with what I had known here in Virginia. California was all about newness and innovation, compared to Virginia's more conservative emphasis on tradition and heritage.

    Even though I had always thought of myself as fairly liberal and open-minded, I found out that I was more conservative than I thought, when faced with the wide-open lifestyle possibilities available in San Francisco. If you could dream it, you could go ahead and be it there, if you just had enough courage. ("Don't dream it, just be it" is a line from a Rocky Horror song.)

    When I moved away from San Francisco in 2003, it was a huge culture shock for me to return home, which I hadn't expected. I missed all my friends so much. I hadn't noticed how much California had changed me. I realized I had spent a lot of time there feeling superior, and that I hadn't really let myself fully be a part of the excitement that California had to offer.

    So when I went back for a year in 2004-2005, I very much tried to be more open to what was going on around me, and tried to take part in and appreciate the culture there, as opposed to comparing it with somewhere else.

    Although I ultimately ended up back in Virginia, I can say that I truly enjoyed my last year in California, instead of staying wrapped up in the usual concerns. As I said to a native Californian friend on the phone, "California is a state of mind." She agreed.

    If you allow yourself the freedom to radically be who you really are, you will still have a seed of that experience, no matter where you go. If you aren't comfortable with that, then that's also your choice. Namaste.

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  4. I completely related to this article! I live in Canada and moved from the east to the west coast in 2010 and still, even now, am having a lot of issues with how much more expensive it is to live here. Also, I feel the people are SO different and your article made me see that I am focusing on what is 'wrong' or 'distasteful' about here, as opposed to what is good about this part of Canada. Now, if I can only find a way to change my thought process because I really believe it is holding me back....thanks for the article..

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  5. I completely related to this article! In 2010 I made the big move from east to west coast of Canada and since that time, my thought process is constantly negative. I keep thinking how it's SO much more expensive here, how the people are very different and I don't fit in. I feel that your article helps me see that I have to stop focusing on this negative aspect and instead focus on how things are positive here, how I DO relate to some people here, etc. It's going to be a challenge to change my thought process but I really connected to your article. Thank you.

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