“New One”
The word “neon” finds its origins in Greek of which “neon” is the neutral form of “neos” meaning “New One”. Although a very common element in the universe, neon is actually quite rare on Earth.
I was catching up with a friend of mine earlier today who I hadn’t spoken to in quite some time and naturally we got on the topic of what the two of us were planning to do with ourselves in the near future. He is 21 and a high school drop-out who has long since been frustrated by being “trapped” in his small town, a situation exacerbated by his limited ability to make a living so that he can get out. He has been dating a girl across the country from him for some time now, flying periodically out to see her, and naturally I popped the question, “Why don’t you move out west?” To which he replied, “Heh, I might be stealing your lessons. I’m taking my time with that.”
He was referring to my last two (failed) attempts to move from the small town I grew up in 3,000 miles cross country to Seattle over the course of 2009, and the lessons learned from them. It just happened to be that his statement finally sparked my “inspiration” for this blog, an inspiration for which I had been searching for nearly two years now. It isn’t that I couldn’t think of anything to write about. I, you will likely see, never lack for words. Rather, I wanted to write about a topic on which I had a unique but powerful perspective and about something that people would want to read. For some reason, I really don’t feel like my life is exciting enough from a day to day perspective to imagine that anyone would want to waste their time with it (:P), but his statement made me realize that my experiences totaled over 24 years definitely have a distinct value. If they can touch people, help them even, I think it would be a travesty for me to keep quiet about them.
I am 24 years old. I was born in Chicago but grew up in a small, southern town. I graduated summa cum laude from my university with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Japanese Language (Yup! I can speak Japanese…some anyway.). I have lived abroad in Nagoya, Japan, attempted massage therapy school and two moves to Seattle, spent a month in Vancouver, BC, and received a government scholarship to do Master’s Degree studies at the second best university in Japan (Waseda University) that I had to turn down less than 5 days before my plane was supposed to leave. I was also the object of incessant bullying through middle and high school, became in my search for acceptance the victim of a pedophile as a teenager, and I have learned one of the most difficult and powerful kinds of love – unrequited.
Through all of that, and a great deal more, I have discovered that I am a beautiful, strong, and intelligent woman. And I can tell you honestly, that learning to like myself is truly the most difficult struggle I have ever face.
