So as of late February, I'm moving to historical Stuyvesant heights, Brooklyn, NY. Back in the Summer of 2008 when I discovered The Little Red Boutique, Food 4 Thought and Bread-Stuy, I just knew that this area was the place forme. All the residents and store owners were extremely friendly and nice and inclusive and everyone was just doing it! You already know, if you surround yourself with movers and shakers, you can't help but to be inspired and be one.
I remember walking up & down the streets when the fiasco that was my apartment in Bed-Stuy went down, looking for an place to call my own. Alas, it was not meant to be and I moved on to other things, but my desire never went away. When it came time for my next move last Fall, I headed back home to CT but I had more than outgrown the place where I grew up. In less than a week, I packed up and moved to Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
I didn't know if Harlem, Manhattan or Brooklyn would be my new home in the next several months and I prayed about it. I needed a place I could afford, next to transportation and in a great neighborhood since I was a single girl on her own in the big city. Again, my heart pushed me towards Stuyvesant Heights. But I discovered in my search that living there might prove to be expensive and selective. The residents are fiercely protective of their neighborhood, especially with the surrounding area being what it is. Two blocks in any direction and you're simply in Bedford-Stuyvesant or Bed-Stuy, which can be pretty rough. I decided to use Craigslist and be patient in my search. The first place I viewed was pretty bad. The neighborhood seemed like a war zone and the place itself smelled and I questioned if it should have been condemned. But on my limited budget, i began to beleive that this place, or one like it, might have to be what I call home. I decided to let the place go, pray and be patient that God had something better for me. And He did.
I saw an advertisement for an open house right in the middle of Stuyvesent Heights. It was in my price range and renovated. When I arrived, I thought maybe I had the wrong place. It was one of those "This is too good to be true" moments. Renovated was not the word. The place was just new! From the floors, to the appliances to the amount of space, the place was a complete turnaround from the past spaces I'd seen. I knew I wanted it, but would I get in? To make this long story a bit shorter, I'll just say I did! Thank God! When i first moved to NYC, my boss told me that the 1st set of friends I made here would change. I told her she was deads wrong. I had met and made friends I would have for life. But lo and behold, her words were true. At first I was afraid to make new friends,and go to new places without being around the familiar faces I met when I first moved here, but now I'm more than ready. Ready to embrace my new place, my new start and make new friends, associates, acquiantances, preferably around my age, that's key! In all this my advice to anyone is to listen to God, listen to your gut, listen to that little voice that tells you which way to go. I've spent my time in NYC pleasing and helping others who could honestly care less about me. Truth be told, if I don't care about me, who will? Since I've put myself first, and it's only been a short time, things have really changed for the better and the positive for me. and beleive me, when you do you, the people who matter will still be there and those that don't will not. Let them go, you're honestly better off without them You really are.
I am!
No comments:
Post a Comment