The Person You Can't Become At Home: On Moving, Starting Over, and Finding Yourself Somewhere New
This week I'm coming in hot with some life updates - the Hacks series finale (UPDATE: I thought it was the series finale, it wasn't. and I couldn't be happier about it) and a book I finished, You've Found Oliver by Dustin Thao, which started slow and then took a turn I did not see coming and had me in my feels for the rest of the day. Dustin, you might be getting a call soon.
Then we get into it.
First- the dumb phone experiment. I tried it. It was harder than expected, lonelier than expected, and ultimately more clarifying than expected. I'm not back to scrolling mindlessly, but I'm also not pretending the rest of the world is going to slow down and meet me where I am. I found a middle ground, and I share exactly what that looks like now plus an app called Blank Spaces that has been a genuine game changer for anyone not ready to go full dumb phone but desperate for less noise.
And then the thing I really wanted to talk about. The belief I have held for over ten years that I think is one of the most radical, most necessary things a person can do for themselves- leave your hometown. Give it at least two years somewhere new. Sit in the discomfort of nobody knowing who you are or who you're supposed to be. Let yourself become a blank canvas again.
I moved from Massachusetts to Tucson at 21 with nothing. No job, no money, one connection, zero plan. It was the best decision I have ever made. Then Phoenix. Then LA. And now Paris is on the horizon. Every single move has cracked me open in ways I didn't know I needed. Every city has asked me to shed something and grow something new in its place.
This episode is for the person who feels the pull and keeps talking themselves out of it. The person who knows something different is waiting for them but can't quite bring themselves to begin. I've been that person. I know what's on the other side of the fear. And I promise you- it is worth every single uncomfortable, disorienting, lonely, magnificent moment.
If you want to talk about any of this - privately or on the podcast- I'd love to hear from you.
https://jonnythyne.com/reflect [https://jonnythyne.com/reflect]
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