It occurred to me when I shared a picture of myself last week that although I do make mention of my experiences and history I have never done an introduction post or blog. I honestly don’t think I have ever done one on Instagram. So I figured it was about time. So today I will share a little bit about me.
I was born in Lakewood, California and after bopping around there for a few years my family settled in the Orange County area, mainly Anaheim. That is where I spent my childhood/teenage/young adult formative years. Although I don’t think I ever really thought there was too much remarkable about Anaheim, the truth is that when I did start traveling internationally people always knew where I was from because folks all over the world know that Disneyland is in Anaheim. In case you are wondering, yes, my family did visit Disneyland but only once a year. We were not fortunate enough to have yearly passes. Although there were some periods of time as a teenager or young adult that I knew people that worked there so I did experience the privilege of getting in for free a handful of times.
I admit, thinking back on my childhood and my life in Anaheim it all feels somewhat unremarkable to me. My husband when I met him admitted to me that the idea of me being a Cali girl was possibly the most exciting thing ever to him. He clearly was influenced by the imagery Southern California in movies and tv shows which made him completely infatuated with the idea of dating a Cali girl. But for me that was just what I was and I didn’t think it was especially glamorous. As you can see I did have very high bangs which as I write this I am not even sure I could repeat today. Like, how did I even do that?
I attended a pretty average high school. I was involved heavily in Dance Performance which is something I showed an interest in just simply to avoid having to run the track during Phys Ed class, a theme that repeats throughout my life. I was the first person in my family to attend college and it wasn’t because anyone pushed me. I just really loved learning and it was something I always knew I wanted to do. I attended community college to complete the pre-reqs for Nursing school and planned to transfer to a university but as a commuter who would live with my boyfriend at the time most likely in the East Bay Area.
In my early 20’s as I was planning for this life of stability and certainty two things happened in my life that drastically altered me and my journey: I travelled out of the country and I moved to Humboldt County. The effect that traveling to another country (Australia) had on me was something that led to things going south with my partner at the time. And because of that break-up I got something I never thought in a million years I would get to experience: a full fledged college experience. I moved far away from home, as far away as I could get and still stay in the state of California to get in-state tuition. I still remember the day that the brochure for Humboldt State University arrived in my Anaheim mailbox. I fell in love. The redwoods, the ocean, the beautiful old campus buildings. It was like something out of a dream. Even the person jogging through the woods was appealing even though as I have already shared jogging or running for exercise is like my personal nightmare. Being in the relationship that I was in made it seem impossible at the time but with that obstacle out of the way Humboldt County was calling me!
Some people refer to Humboldt County as the land that time forgot. It feels like the kind of place that stays the same and isn’t really touched or affected by what is happening in the rest of the world. It also embodies a dichotomy that had a profound effect on me: while being a small isolated place with not a ton of diversity it is also the kind of place that exposes you to so many different experiences and walks of life. Maybe it was just my good fortune. But for instance, living in Humboldt County taught me to love ethnic food and can you imagine how surprised I was when I returned for a visit to Anaheim and realized that I had grown up maybe 10 miles from an entire city filled with tons of Vietnamese restaurants. I just had no inclination to even look for something like that until my experiences in Humboldt opened my eyes.
The truth is I could spend one entire blog talking about my experiences in Humboldt County. But obviously, I am not going to do that. Let’s just say that living in this magical place turned everything on its head for me. Everything I thought I knew and was certain I wanted in my life vanished and in its place I slowly built the life I am living today.
To be continued next week!