My Experience in Nashville (Part 2)
It was a tough time for me when I had made my decision to move to Nashville. I wasn’t breaking up with my boyfriend but I was leaving him behind and it wasn’t easy. I knew that we were soon going to be in a relationship limbo, not knowing if I was going to have to move back to New York or if he was going to have to move down to Tennessee. There was no right answer for us. But I had to go, I just had to go and be somewhere else and figure things out. I felt too lost to stay where I was and whenever I have a gut feeling that I need to do something, I always go with it.
I spent ten months living in Nashville alone. Not literally because I never had my own apartment there, but I felt alone most of the time. I moved four different times and had four different jobs. I met so many wonderful people but never really got too close to anyone because I was never sure if I was going to really stay there. I tend to get attached to people easily so I was afraid that if I decided to go back to New York (which I did eventually) it would be too hard to leave if I had made good friends there. So I met a lot of amazing people but I always kept my distance. Another big part of it was that I felt like making real friends there meant I was making a life for myself there, and I wasn’t sure I wanted that. I missed my boyfriend too much to really want to settle there. It was hard, really hard most of the time.
Nashville is a truly magical city which I plan to write about sometime soon but it’s too much to include in this story. So anyway, I waited tables, worked as a server at fancy events, and I worked as a part-time publicist for a woman who owned her own business in the music industry. She was wonderful and smart and taught me more about the music business in three months than I would’ve learned in a year anywhere else. Working for her is what made me realize I don’t want to work in music business, I want to work on creating music instead. Working for her is what helped me realize my true passion and goals in life and I am forever grateful for that experience.
Now, one year later, I have officially moved back to Albany, New York. For the first time in two years, I know the person I am and the person I want to be in life. I have goals that I am certain I want to work towards. I’m less afraid of taking chances and trying new things. Living in Nashville made me realize that it doesn’t matter where you live, it matters how you live. Your location should never affect how you live. It made me realize that I spent all that time waiting for my life to start, waiting for a new beginning that I never really needed. My life had already started and if I kept waiting and didn’t realize that, I would’ve been waiting forever. I am excited to be back in New York and back in Albany. I am excited that I finally know who I am and what I want.
Sometimes in life you know things but you still need to realize those things. Nashville helped me realize so many things that I already knew. In a way, taking that chance made my life better even though it was painful and tedious at times. So, for anyone who is afraid of taking a chance on something, I can tell you that from my experience it’s always worth it. Whether it’s going for a new job, a new career path, a new romantic interest, a new city or country, you should always go for it. I’m so thankful that despite all of my fears and doubts, I went for what I thought I wanted. And in doing so I found exactly what I needed.
And Nashville, you will always have a special place in my heart :)