VT-HI Connection

It was quintessential. I sat under a coconut tree last night, watching the moon over the ocean, and felt the sea spray in my face. It was cliche, but I can think of other cliches that would be much worse to indulge in.

I feel quite fortunate right now. (I was going to write lucky, but nothing that has happened since I've come to Hawaii has been about luck. It's been about fortitude and creating my own place in this world, rather than waiting for something to happen.) So yeah, I have a nice place to live. I have an unbelievably fun job at an eclectic coffee shop. I get to play ultimate, and really, most importantly, I am meeting people who don't need me to define myself by my career. It quite refreshing to *just* be a barista, to not have to prove myself academically, or professionally, or intellectually. It was so easy to get caught up in the "I should be..." or "I need to be..." or "I have to be..." doing this, solving that, proving this, accomplishing that.

I'm done with all that now...hopefully for good. Yeah, I still want to be doing global public health. Yeah, I'm still going to interviews, and I don't plan to stay in Hawaii forever. But I do plan to not get caught up in things like I have in the past. No more doing just to prove. No more.
I need to get back to my VT roots. Though I wasn't homegrown there, I do feel it to be the only place on the mainland where I've ever felt okay about myself and accepted by my community.

A lot of people out here say Hawaii is a tropical VT, or VT is a cold Hawaii. The ohana spirit is deep out here, and so similar to what Jeremy and I always talk about loving in VT. So I guess it's not surprising that I've make connections to Hawaii and so quickly. Now, if only I could get my closest to move out here, and for there to be a global health job, I would definitely never leave.