Bringing Things to a Close

As the semester comes to a close, I’m quickly approaching one of the last certain inflection points of my life; this is the last time I’m guaranteed a major change to where I live, what I do, etc. Honestly, describing it that way makes it sound a lot more daunting than it is. But what I’m trying to say is that I could very well stay in NYC for the rest of my life working in software and living in roughly the same place. This is the last sure transition. Consequently, I feel like it’s worth thinking about what will change over this summer in particular; what I plan to do, what I’ll be leaving behind, and I what I hope to find.

I’ll start with what I’ve been thinking about the most: the things I want to do differently once I moved to NYC. Working at SIG over the summer gave me an appreciation for having more structured days, even if that was a consequence of working full time. Since I’ll be on a consistent sleep schedule and will be lucky enough to work somewhere with a gym, I’m definitely planning on restarting my workout cycle. I’d like to reintegrate cardio into my workouts as it helps me sleep well, and I want to focus on bulking to around 200 pounds (confidence boost).

Something else I’d like to reimplement from this past summer is taking drum lessons, which I feel I greatly benefited from. Speaking of music, I’m also really looking forward to setting up a dedicated music area wherever I end up moving. Between an electronic kit and an electric and acoustic guitar recording setup, I’ll have absolutely no excuse to continue my hiatus from writing music. With any luck, I’ll be able to find people to jam with, too.

That actually brings me to my next point: people. Of the wide variety of people I met in college, I made very few good friends. It’s not something I regret, but it’s something I want to specifically work on since I’ve been given a fresh start in moving back across the country. I want to say yes to every outing I can. I want to meet friends of friends and be more confident in introducing myself. Most importantly, I want to give everyone I meet a better chance than I did in college. There are all sorts of incredibly interesting, passionate, and wonderful people out there, and it’s on me to find them, not the other way around.

One last thing I want to do when I get to NYC is start giving back. I am incredibly lucky to be where I am, and I owe my success mostly to others. Until now, my philosophy has been that I’ll make money first and change later, but recently I’ve figured there could be something I’d actively enjoy doing in the meantime that would directly benefit others. Perhaps that something is as grand a teaching or developing digital learning materials for aspiring software developers. Maybe that something is as simple writing technical blog posts on stuff I’ve figured out over the years. It’s something I want to figure out, so I’m sure you’ll hear more about it soon.

To shake up the framing a little, the biggest thing I want to leave behind would probably be the mess; over the last semester or two I’ve started to let the tidiness of my studio apartment slide. Sometimes things simply don’t have a place to be put away, or sometimes I am simply too lazy to clean. Sometimes there’s simply no good solution. For example, it doesn’t make sense to put up shelves or buy new furniture when I’m moving across the country in a couple of months, so the cast iron will simply have to reside on the table. No, those books don’t have anywhere to go because the bookshelf is full. Yes, the entire space under the bed is taken up by a SIG sponsored cornhole board, no I have no fucking clue what to do with it.

I suppose another thing I’d like to improve on is how loosey-goosey I am with administrative stuff. To a greater extent than I’d like to admit, I am just haphazardly sending it on retaining and digitizing important documents, receipts, notes, etc. I want to put a budget together so I can stop being unnecessarily frugal when buying groceries and house supplies. I should probably also start actively managing my subscriptions; I don’t have many, but it’s things like have a Digital Ocean droplet and Linode instance at the same time that passively bug me. Add in apartment hunting, investments, retirement funds, insurance, cell plans and phone upgrades…you get the idea.

Looking back at this post, I guess what I’m looking for in NYC is a foundation to grow from. I want to find structure, a wider, more diverse group of friends, and fulfilling pastimes. I want systems that will account for the things I spend time needlessly worrying about. I want an empty canvas I can be fully focused on. Some of these things might sound like chores, but I am nonetheless absolutely stoked for this summer. I’ve got the dream job, a couple of goals for the next few years, and a plan for how to achieve them. All that’s left is to put my head down and make it all happen.