Coming Home
I recently decided to return to the New York City area, where I grew up, so I could hang out with friends and family for an undetermined amount of time.
I moved to the west coast immediately after I graduated architecture school and had been residing there for the past 10 years and haven’t really spent much time back east. It’s amazing how everything has changed with 10 years of time and space. Its almost like stepping into a time machine.
The most amazing aspect of my homecoming is how my relationship with Architecture has evolved over the years. Today, I feel just as passionate and fired up about architecture as I did 10 years ago. But at the same time, everything is different:
The types of projects I chase after.
What I think is important.
Who I’ll work with.
The Architecture I admire.
The Architecture that I find offensive.
The Architecture fads I don’t care about, or try to understand.
The projects I wouldn’t touch with a 10’ pole.
How much I care about what other people think.
While everything has changed so much, it’s been a breath of fresh air to come home and check in with the place where I started this crazy architect career.
It’s so easy to fall into a bubble within this profession.
It’s even easier to lose sight of what we were sooo passionate about in the first place.
For me, the best way to gain clarity has always been to change my environment.
Flipping The Script
The life I designed for myself in Portland, Oregon was perfect. I had no real complaints or reason to get out of Portland. Unfortunately, I just got bored with the routine.
The constant traveling for business was starting to take its toll and I hate being away from my dog. What if, I perpetually lived with my dog wherever we wanted and I traveled back to Portland for business.
Within a few weeks comin up with this idea, I got rid of everything I own, moved out of my apartment of 8 years, bought a minivan and a really nice drone.
My first order of business was to reconnect with the east coast. So I drove across America like a maniac and have been celebrating my homecoming. It’s been 2 months since I moved out of the apartment, and I’ve been having more fun then I ever imagined I would.
Looking Back
More then ever before, I feel like I’ve gotten intense clarity about what I really want to accomplish as an Architect. I credit this clarity from reconnecting with where I came from.
