I just I quit my job, left my friends and family, and moved 1800 miles away to begin the first true adventure of my life. The greatest rewards are preceeded only by greater risks. These are the stories of my life for those interested enough to listen. This is how I came to be in Boston:
One blustery May afternoon, I was lounging in the hammock in the woods above my house, watching the clouds roll past and daydreaming as is easy to do from this spot. As I sway in the wind, my thoughts introspective, pondering the grand adventure that is life and seeking the answer to a newly posed, monumental question. I had been living a life of routine that required only a semi-conscious state to thrive; bored with monotony and awaiting fate's intervention, when opportunity arrived in a startling, police-at-your-door, kind of way.
My good friend and roommate, Michael Gunnuscio, had just received a job offer doing what he loves, working the sleep medicine field in a much more accomplished and respected place: Boston - birthplace of yogurt and kabobs (probably).
"Hey Ilott, you wanna move to Boston?", he casually asked over our traditional Sunday morning mimosas.
"Why the hell would I move to Boston?" My abrupt inquiry immediately overthrown by his brilliant retort of "Why not?"
Hmmm... I guess I had never really thought about it like that. So with nominal planning or forethought, 80% of my mind made itself up that yes, Boston is the dramatic change I need.
His persuasive argument with my great childhood friend, George Pechmann went with ease as well, the succession of facetious questions sounding like "soo george... how's your job as a server? How's living with your parents? How's the girlfriend you don't have?"
And with this, George was on board to Beantown also.
Though as simple as it sounds, it is quite a challenge mentally and emotionally to take on such an endeavor. The decision to leave behind your family and the friends that you consider the same is not reached without fastidious deliberation, nor is the afterthought that you have made a grave mistake alleviated quickly. There is this extreme feeling of discomfort that relentlessly tries your spirits...a persistent, awful anxiety that changes you. After seemingly countless weeks of this frustration, it suddenly evaporated like storm clouds cowering behind the sun, and with it my view of the things in my life dramatically shifted. Rejuvenation! I had never felt stronger or more confident, ready to take on the world!
And this is where I am now. Spontaneously relocated to Boston without ever having visited, with hopes that two steps backward will lead to 5 steps forward.
Here, I have left behind the beaten path to tread new soil and create my own, being reminded daily that life can teach you a lot if you let it.
