ch-ch-changes...

While I was in Africa, I received an email from a good friend of mine expressing his concerns that I would return from Africa a completely different person.

a young woman from Macedonia went to Calcutta one day and we now know her as Mother Teresa. while my Catholicism supports any growth in church activities, i worked too hard to make you unrespectable.

I laughed when I got the message last week.  This friend and I have known each other for ten years and while working together, engaged in more than our fair share of shenanigans.  Late nights, chicken tenders at a local diner, and coffee breaks in the middle of the afternoon were par for the course while we were working together.  And since I've gotten older, I have certainly cut back on my formerly wild ways and his email got me thinking -- I feel like a different person now that I am back.  But how I am different?

Besides the monumental decision to look for a legal job that is more fulfilling, I think I am still figuring the rest out.  There are small things I am trying to be more cognizant of - I noticed that in the last week, I've watched carefully what I eat (not necessarily calories but quantity) and what I spend.  With a major life change on the way, I realized it is time to start paying closer attention to my cash flow.  I am trying to be more aware of my language and replacing my go-to "mother f***er" with the less offensive "mother of pearl." I am not sure where "mother of pearl" comes from and I am pretty sure it may mean that I am transforming into a 75-year-old woman.  I noticed I am deleting, without reading these emails, I receive on a near daily basis from a variety of stores, enticing me with free shipping and percentages off.  I seem to have lost my taste for shopping, although I am quite confident it will return, but when it does, it will probably be more Old Navy, less Nordstrom.

There is a lot of momentum that follows a life-changing experience.  Part of me wants to tear through my apartment and donate every article of clothing I have not worn in the last six months. But I know myself and those types of impulse decisions I will likely regret.  What I am focused on is learning how to weave what I learned into my daily life, in a way that reminds me of my experiences without becoming unrecognizable to those who know me best.  It has been a little tricky but I am trying to make it work.  Stay tuned.