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December 14, 2006
home ownership
I feel like I'm on the cusp of something, but I don't know what.
Since I started posting online, I've gone from fresh-out-of-college meaning-seeker, to grand cross-country adventurer, to lonely unemployed sales assistant, to overworked newly in love entry-level peon. I've moved across country once, held five jobs, lived in seven buildings, and had lots of mini adventures in the desert, the woods, on a volcano, at the beach.
I don't worry as much about what people think of me. I'm not as lonely. I have a better sense of who I am and where I want my life to go, even though I don't have it all figured out and probably never will.
Now Ben and I are talking about buying a house, living there for 40 years or more. I don't know if it will happen in 2007 or 2008, but eventually it's going to happen. It feels like a commitment to a kind of permanence I've never known in my life until now. I've had permanence of people, but never permanence of place.
With a house, my time and money priorities will change. I'll be giving up a bit of career flexibility. I'll be giving up the dream of living near some distant friends ever again. Ben and I will be taking responsibility for our own leaky roofs, moldy bathrooms, dusty vents. We'll have more control over our environment. We'll be investing in our future. We'll never be evicted again.
I wonder how our perspectives and our priorities will change?
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at December 14, 2006 07:04 AM