Creating New Meaning

Thursday, January 19th. My last day at Cannon Design and my final night in our 400 square foot apartment. There was a sense of emptiness that rested within each of the spaces and there was certainly a hole that was being drilled in my heart knowing that i'd be saying goodbye to both of them. It's an unsettling emotion when you're about to leave a place. It's almost as if someone knocks on the comprehension compartment of your brain and just says, "WAKE UP". Suddenly, just moments before you leave, a world of understanding presents itself to you. Insight finally inserts itself in to the smallest moments of your perception and you begin to understand; to acknowledge what creates a place.

My friends, my co-workers, my serbian room-mate - these are what created a place for me in NYC. And unfortunately, these are the people where i fell victim to oversight. I was always observing my built environment and the spaces that NYC has created but I never thought deeply about the people that surrounded me. I spent my time exploring the urban environment/demographic and saw my friends as an amazing benefit to my experience. But the more I think about it, it was my friends that were the core of my experience.. not the city. They were the ones that created meaning in particular spaces. I sit here in Washington DC, missing my friends and family in NYC but one thing has changed: I've begun to meet new people, and i've begun to create new meanings. 

Our purpose here in DC, the way we saw it, was to meet the architect that we would be working with in Nepal and also meet the founder of the KRMEF (Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation), which is the organization well be working with while we are abroad. The architect - Bill Hutchins, and the founder - Krishna Gurung, are both incredible people. Full of energy and altruistic minds, they both have visions of what a happy and meaningful life entails. It only took a matter of minutes to comprehend that it wasn't just a meet and greet, but these were to be two very important people in my life that are going to be responsible for the creation of a whole new world of meaning for me. 

My insight into the past couple of days tells me a few things. First: never neglect what you have, while searching for the next step. Second: Know that the people you encounter in spaces create your understanding of that place. And third: Never be scared of leaving behind your friends, because new people will always come along to fill that missing void in your heart. 

Cheers to people.