An Unbelievable 10 Years in Washington D.C.
It’s damn near impossible for me to believe that today marks my 10 year anniversary in Washington D.C.
On the one hand it has flown by, yet on the other so much has happened.
We got engaged. I lived the D.C. group home life. We moved into our first apartment together. We got married. We bought a house. We adopted our two pit babies. I scraped by on multiple jobs and took unpaid internships before finally landing a job on the Hill. I’ve left politics to work for a cause I’m passionate about. I’ve moved up, I’ve moved over, I’ve been fired. I’ve had the best bosses and the worst bosses. I’ve had coworkers who became like family. I’ve met the President (twice). I got my first tattoo (and my second). I’ve volunteered for many, many campaigns – some we won, others we lost. I ran my first half marathon, my first marathon, my first half Ironman, and many, many other races. I finally got a bike. I’ve done cross country road trips and traveled to dozens of countries. I got my Master’s Degree and promptly realized I’d never use it. I’ve been published. I started a blog and a supper club (and failed to give either the attention they require). I’ve been in at least four book clubs, and on two softball teams, a kick ball team and a bocce team. I’ve thrown amazing parties and been kicked out of plenty of bars. I’ve been to dozens of weddings, celebrated births, and lost people I loved way before I was ready. I’ve joined thousands of friends and strangers in both celebration and protest. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve taken chances and made difficult decisions. I’ve done my best to follow my heart. I’ve had victories, I’ve faced challenges. And through it all, this has become my city.
Undoubtedly, what I’m the most proud of over the past ten years is the tribe I’ve built and the people I’ve come to be surrounded by. I’ve found friends at work, through school, at the gym, and on jury duty. On trips, at parties, through Craigslist and by agreeing to crazy adventures. And through friends who have been generous enough to share their own friends. And they’re all freakin’ phenomenal human beings that are engaged and engaging, have fun and fascinating hobbies they tend to seduce me into, and they can talk about everything from politics to arts to science to philosophy to food to fitness and everything in between. They embrace my quirks, support my passions, and genuinely care about doing good for the world. And through it all, they’ve made the challenges more manageable and the victories sweeter.
I moved to this city filled with immeasurable hope. I wanted to change the world. I knew very little about politics – in fact I probably couldn’t have told you the difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives. But I was inspired by a movement and felt more empowered than I ever had before.
In some ways I’ve changed a lot, and in others I think I’m still that wide-eyed optimistic kid who wants to be and have it all. I’m not as naive. I’m far more confident. I know my worth. I’ve learned to advocate for myself, and for others. I still want to make the world a better place, but I’ve learned that my most palpable opportunity to do so isn’t at the grandiose scale I once imagined, but by the small, daily actions that make the people I love happy and my community just a tiny bit better. I’m still as far as I was then from having my life all figured out, but I’ve learned that what really matters is loving the life you live. And that I’ve got down.
My decade in D.C. has not left me jaded. And that’s because I’ve carefully curated my life to surround myself with positive people. Deep down, I’m still an optimist. And I’ve proven to be a resilient one.
This is my home now, and I look forward to what the next decade brings.
