Going back to where you started...

...is not the same as never leaving.

The fact is that this week I've been back in NYC, that saying keeps resonating in my head. I am not entirely sure of where I heard it the first time, but I find it to be very wise. Some people think of certain decisions/ choices as absolutes or repetitions but in reality, each decision/ choice is different because YOU are different. Every experience changes us.

I left New York about 4 years ago and hadn't been back in almost 2.

I was tired. The concrete jungle where dreams are made of, made my dreams come true but it wore me out. Towards the end, I felt detached from it. But I am not the same as I was back then and neither is the city.

So I am in love again.

When I tell the story of how I ended up in Brickell, people often laugh at me because I chose it due to the fact that it was like a mini Manhattan in the middle of the obnoxiousness and tackiness I find Miami to be. Like an oasis. I also think that in some strange way, Brickell chose me. I moved in at a time when that squared mile didn't really have a personality as it was merely a concept being executed so I became part of its story.

But as I sit here in a Starbucks 1000 miles away from "my" Starbucks, in a space that just 4 years ago was occupied by the now defunct Blockbuster, I think that maybe this is where I should be right now. That perhaps being the Jersey girl who moved to the city is more in line with who I am, than being the city girl who moved to Miami.

Even in writing it seems like a step back!

(no offense to Miami)

In any case, should the roads lead me back here I know that I'll have to rediscover the city and rediscover myself in it because again, going back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.