About a year ago, I moved into an apartment building in DC. It was quite a distance from my school, by city standards anyhow. The commute time was approximately 40 minutes, if everything went smoothly. As you can imagine, things often did not go smoothly. I mention this because the commute could be cumbersome. The length of the commute made it so that I minimized the number of trips that I took to campus. Why does that matter? Colleges can provide a great sense of community, and I was not able to take advantage of this sense of community due to my long commute. That is an excuse, of course there are always workarounds, but it proved overwhelming for me in a new city. I did not engage as much as I would have liked, and therefore did not reap the full benefits of the college experience. This is yet another lens to view the past year that I have written so much about. Anyhow, I am mentioning this because I am at a crossroads.
I am now at a point where I must make a decision about my living situation. My lease is up in a couple of weeks. There is so much internal dialogue that I could go into; for example, do I even want to live in a city or how close is the closest grocery store? In reality though, what I am looking for boils down to one key idea: a sense of community.
This is somewhat difficult to succinctly define. However, I am essentially looking for an engaging community that provides its residents with the opportunity to get to know each other. The two central components to this are obviously the building management and the residents themselves. The building can organize all kinds of great events, but it doesn’t mean much if the residents are not engaged. In fact, I would argue this has been one of the biggest issues with any of my living situations. It is also one of the most difficult things to gauge from a 30 minute tour on a random weekday.
With all of that being said, I did tour an apartment community that I really liked recently. It was a set of 3 new buildings adjacent to the park. They had tremendous amenities, including a social club and on-site grocery store. It felt like the start of a neighborhood. Of course there’s no guarantee that these grandiose plans of TED talks, book signings, and an active social club come to fruition. However, I could see it and feel it. I really enjoyed it. The problem: rent is insanely high. It was definitely out of my range. So the search continues.
I am planning on touring another apartment building today. I am somewhat familiar with the building already (my brother used to live there), and I am interested in getting to know the area better. My current location is bustling. I hear traffic (motors and horns) and trains throughout the day. It might be nice to get away from all of that noise.
Truth be told, I do not think that staying where I am but moving into a studio would be the worst thing in the world. I am intrigued by the concept of living in my own place rather than having roommates. The additional autonomy alleviates some anxiety for me. I would feel more comfortable to explore things such as cooking and furniture shopping. I could also have my own pet and that might do wonders for my mood. While this is a big decision, I also realize that the decision I make is not permanent. It can be undone. That is something important to remember for managing anxiety.
In all, I am looking for a community rather than just a building. I want the support system that comes along with a community. As I have noted in previous blogs, I want more friends and meaningful relationships in my life. This decision is one way to achieve that desire.
As always, thank you for reading Making my Mark on the world! If you liked this post, please consider subscribing and sharing.
As an aside, I took a lengthy break between posts recently, but my plan is to get back to posting consistently. I realize that I do feel better when I get blog posts up. I am sharing my real authentic thoughts through these posts and that has power for me. Additionally, I am considering branching out on topics. I am interested in ethics and might start a weekly discussion oriented piece for those also interested in learning more about the topic.
Thank you again for reading!
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