Since the 1990s, I have lived in 18 different locations, which includes two countries, four states, seven cities, a multiple of municipalities, several poorly-furnished corporate apartments — and I’ve had six cats (RIP, Lucy) and tons of foster animals.
Raleigh has been my home for seven years, and I love it, but most of you know that I was born in Chicago. I haven’t lived there for many years, and when I go back, the town is nearly unrecognizable. Yes, North Michigan Avenue is lovely; however, outside of 10 beautiful blocks of luxury hotels and shopping, the streets seem turbulent.
If Raleigh is home and Chicago was where I was born, I might call London my second home. I went to school at Regent’s University London, which is a private, non-profit university. It’s in London where, as a college student, I started to daydream about being a writer.
Life didn’t quite work out. When I returned to the UK in my role as a corporate human resources leader, I felt the desperate sense of urgency to reboot my life and get closer to my core values as an artist and teacher.
(Which is sorta what I do today in my role as a writer, speaker, and consultant.)
But fuck all that rumination and emotional regurgitation of the past. I am headed back to London, tonight, to make new memories. I’ll be there for 48 hours with friends and colleagues at an event called TruLondon. I formed a friendship with the conference founder, Bill Boorman, back in 2009. He makes me feel like I make a unique contribution to the agenda (even though the conference is now overwrought with American attendees).
What can I say? I am eternally grateful to Bill for the opportunity to go home.
So I’ll see all of you very soon. Even you, my dear American colleagues!
You must be logged in to post a comment.