Home is Where the Heart is

Happy Tuesday friends! Let’s dive right in.

Q: What does “home” mean to you?

A: To me, home is more than where we live or where we have lived. Home is where we feel most comfortable, creative, and supported…home can be any place or environment that helps you thrive! For me, I feel most at home in a bustling city, local cafes, artsy streets, dance studios, neighborhood libraries, nature and so much more! I also feel that the connections I have with my closest friends and family serve as my homebase. Home extends beyond a physical place and my community provides a feeling of stability and inspiration that I can use as fuel to thrive.

I’m a San Fernando Valley (SFV) native with a deep love for San Francisco. The city has given me a new place to call home after four jam-packed years pursuing my undergraduate degrees at SFSU. These days, it’s eerily quiet due to the pandemic but I look forward to welcoming back the vibrant, creative, and typically tourist-filled city that brought me so many beautiful adventures. There is still so much more to explore.

After a recent weekend trip to SF, nostalgia hit me HARD. While downtown was fairly empty, I enjoyed reconnecting with friends and revisiting some of my favorite city gems. My highlight was golden hour in North Beach enjoying Italian food, the sounds of live jazz and hearty laughter, topping it all off with views of SF's rolling hills and skyscrapers.

It’s safe to say that my time in SF ended too quickly. My time back in the SFV is an invitation to revisit and recreate that feeling of home. I’m not much of a homebody so between job hunting and returning home, I’m looking for places and experiences here that spark my creativity or help me feel connected to the place I grew up in. It's been challenging but I'm reminding myself to keep my head up and keep an open mind.

In honor of the foundations this blog was started on, here are some closing reflections:

🌺Wellness -Take it one day at a time and be kind to yourself. This is only temporary.

🌸Creativity - You can start small, so start anywhere! Create something that's meaningful to you & keep at it.

🌷Mindset - Your progress does not have to be linear. All steps forward are cause for celebration.

My return to LA is just the beginning! Catch you next time, groovers ✨🏠