I wanted to do a post about some of my memories and turning points of my years living in Florida, because they were very important in helping me to become who I am, today. They are not, necessarily, tied to one place, and I have been able to find outlets for them in this location to a large extent, as well.. as much as is possible for the mentality that presides in this area, as the default understanding of people differ greatly by where they happened to grow up or spent years of their lives. And, my "Florida" could be your New York or Utah or wherever. So, just listen for the life lessons.
When I went back down to Florida in 2020, I was coming off some pretty heavy emotional strains and life upheavals that had happened. I will not go into details of it or relating to others as part of this post but only use how it impacted me as context, where needed. But, my emotions were pretty low, and my money was pretty low. I barely had enough to get down there and would work my ass off, once there, to maintain my needed budget and then some. For a good year of my time in Florida, I didn't actually see much of Florida, other than as related to my work places. But, I did make time to see the beaches at times or take pictures of sunsets and find things that I enjoyed to do or places to walk. In many ways, this as a very important part of my change and growth, because I found myself away from relatives, friends and more, other than my online friends which were amazing for me. But, it allowed enough isolation to think through things and process and have the natural emotional swings and internal conflicts that happen as you challenge things you have believed and develop a new baseline for existence that was not based upon anything provided by tv lifestyle images or fed by others to believe. So, my person I was beginning to become was based solely upon myself, which I think is very important for everyone to develop for their lives, wherever they happen to live.
After the first year, I felt like I was finally waking up from a very bad dream, and I began to look around and see that there were good things to do there that weren't dependent upon the past or even being in a relationship. I began to do some things that I used to enjoy doing in Oklahoma, such as Comic Cons with my child or baseball games by myself. I would go out and take pictures of the river in Tampa Bay for different events like Christmas, where they would play Trans Siberian Orchestra to the timed flashing of lights, and I got a membership to the local art museum and would go to it. I also started doing many new things to me. While I had gone to see the Ballet in Oklahoma, I found the arts there more diverse and frankly cheaper than it was in Oklahoma. Over my years there, I had many memorable moments seeing things like Lindsey Stirling in concert, a VERY amazing cover artist doing Frank Sinatra so well he just WAS Frank, orchestra performances, ballet performances, and so many concerts that I lost count. I saw Train and One republic in an outdoor amphitheater at different times, saw Journey and Toto in concert, and listened to so many bands that were just playing in a "bar" (bars there need to be called something else) by the water.
But, I took time to develop myself, as well. I began to run, again. I would enter and run 5Ks that were very memorable, like the Breast Cancer one that took place in the Bucs stadium and parking lot, a run for the Society of Women Engineers at USF (USF also had free orchestra performances that I loved), and would walk very often on the Tampa Riverwalk. I would start to go out with Meetup groups to hike, go to picnic's on the beach, go to clubs, and more. I even did some more reckless things like doing multiple Bar Crawls, and I don't regret doing them.. well.. not entirely. I did lose a credit card and hat and wake up in a park one time. However, for these years in my life, I LIVED LIFE, almost all of it single, though I did have some dating attempts along the way and make great friends, too.
So, the point that I wanted to emphasize is that sometimes you just need to take a period of time to just enjoy life like you want to in order to really understand yourself and what you want. You need to allow yourself to make mistakes and to try new things. You have to learn to laugh and smile, again. You need to improve yourself, enjoy nature, follow your hobbies, and let the past go. THEN, you will be ready for what lies ahead, and you can do that anywhere, really, and it is something that you can do as often as you need to do it as you become the person that you were always meant to be and who you can, then, offer to those around you, as well.