Walk

I have been walking without destination almost every day since
I moved to Chicago two and a half weeks ago; which is a foreign
concept to me since I have the most atrocious sense of direction.
I was never one to venture anywhere without having a specific route,
time frame, or pinpointed location endstop.  And now I'm
beginning to wonder just how many minute moments of beauty I've missed.
When you have no specific arrival, you begin to notice the complexities
of people moving through space.  Little juxtapositions, like the homeless person
standing across from the five star hotel, seem a bit more prominent
when your only intention is discovery.  Perhaps in the past I was
just too frightened to walk without "purpose," or maybe I over-attached
myself to the idea of always needing to know where I was going.

I'm getting awfully metaphorical here.  I mean, hell, I was just
exploring how to get downtown and establish where to get the best
deal on a pint of Guinness.  Chicago just keeps handing me more
than I anticipated - except a job.  There's only so much self-discovery
I can take on my life savings before it turns into a broke girl's memoir.

But honestly, it's been invigorating shuffling aimlessly about the city.
I've discovered Dave's Records (where I want to go broke), found the
best burger since Sundown back home, and happened upon some really
phenomenal people.  I really thought I would feel so much more inept here
initially.  But even with my lack of geographical orientation skills, I have
yet to get confused or lost. 

In this city I am armed only with my curiosity and the ability to kick
someone in the trachea.  But I like walking just to walk.  Sometimes we
don't notice when the path we are trudging is circular.  It takes straying
and dismissing the old roads to realize that we're okay, even if we
don't know where we're going.