How I Feel About 8 Years of London Life

Recently it occurred to me that I moved to the UK 8 whole years ago; the anniversary completely slipped by unnoticed because I was too busy hosting my parents for Christmas! What a strange realisation! December 29th, 2014, I left my old life behind, got on a plane and started a whole new adventure. There are times when I feel like it’s been 10 minutes and times when I’ve been here my whole life. Maybe it’s that reason that I find myself reflecting on how much my life has changed since then. Let’s face it, I was a very different woman back in 2014. I had different dreams then, different needs. Eight years on, how much has changed? Spoiler alert: pretty much all of it.

There are some aspects of moving to a new country that I’m still wrangling with; I suspect I will for as long as I live in the UK (i.e. forever, because I sure don’t have any plans to leave). Moving was so scary but I still maintain it was the best decision I could have ever made for myself. It’s also tough because I do regularly feel like I exist as two separate people. My friends and family are so far from me, and that distance can be tough to manage at times.

The reality is, the people I started my life with, now exist on the periphery of this life I’ve built, having no real connection to it other than what I share with them. Family I used to spend so much time with now exist mainly as the occasional text message in my phone and not much more. It’s something I really struggle with. But sharing things isn’t the same as experiencing them.

The people I started my life with, now exist on the periphery of this life I’ve built.

Last year, I got to see several loved ones while they visited London; an old friend I went to university with, my favourite cousin and of course, my parents, who came to spend Christmas with us for the first time. Having people I love physically here, walking around in my life, existing in my home? It’s something that fills me with more soul soothing joy than I can really articulate. In that moment, the two halves of me are whole.

I do think I’ve built a pretty good life for myself though. I have absolutely no regrets about the choice I made, and I’m pretty happy. My husband is easily worth every single struggle; he’s my person in every single way. I’ve also made some truly wonderful friends who help me through the tough times and who I can turn to for lots of love and laughter. Making friends as an adult is pretty hard, but I’ve definitely found my people. I’m pretty happy on that front.

And my career? Well that’s certainly changed a lot in 8 years, though I have noticed something of a theme. When I moved, I wanted to work in theatre. I went to school for it, and had aspirations to be an actor/director. I’d been trying to pursue it in New York as well before I moved, but it didn’t quite happen. It didn’t happen in London either, and that’s okay. I still love going to the theatre, but i’ve come to realise that what I love more than anything is the storytelling. I love the stories that connect us; the things that remind us that we’re not alone in the human experience. Perhaps that’s why I took to content creation and blogging so soon after I moved. It became an outlet for me and helped me get out of the house. It also helped me meet new people and have new experiences.

I love the stories that connect us; the things that remind us that we’re not alone in the human experience.

Sure I’m still navigating things, like lots of other people, but I do feel like I’ve found something I’m really happy doing. It’s changed and morphed over the years but isn’t that just a part of life? If you’d asked me 8 years ago what I’d be doing, I don’t know that I’d have an answer. Moving really changed how I viewed my life and what my priorities were.

Life can really take you in so many directions, can’t it? It’s certainly been a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs. Things right now though? I’m definitely on a high and taking some time to look back is helping me feel appreciative of just how far I’ve come. The struggles and growth of the last 8 years have come to be a rather defining part of my life and I’m so proud of the person I’ve become. Sometimes the best choices we make are also the scariest and the hardest. It was definitely tough but in the immortal words of Maya Angelou, I rise, I rise, I rise.