Transitions

Transitions are interesting times- a change of place, a change of scenery, leaving old friends, trying to get into new friend circles, figuring out the lay of the land- its all both extremely exciting and sometimes, can be challenging.

I have made several transitions, both in my career and in a geographies, and after the initial "butterflies in the stomach", anxiety phase, it has always worked out well, and the move to Charlotte from Boston has brought its own set of experiences so far. And the two places are VERY different, more so than I had ever imagined. It would naive to even compare the two places as they so different- in terms of history, culture, topography, weather- everything.

Heres what I have something pleasantly surprising about Charlotte. A lot of people here are transplants from somewhere else. They all grew up elsewhere and came here for work- and the fact that this is the corporate HQ for both Bank of America and Wachovia- has helped in that process. That lends to the diversity of the place. It also lends to sharing of common experience as a lot of people seem to have moved here- so there is always a piece of advice in terms of where to live, what to look for and what to do over the weekends.

What I am also beginning to find that when people move, they do take a part of the place with them.
Let me explain with a specific example. We moved to Boston in 2004 and learnt to be Red Sox fans and Patriots fans and even when we moved, its difficult to just cut off your linkage with them. So when this Super Bowl came around, we were cheering for the undefeated team of the season. We all know how that ended, but the point is, I felt the disappointment of that loss as much as most people who physically reside in Boston. I wonder whether I will ever switch loyalties. I learnt to appreciate baseball at Fenway and football at Gillette Stadium and that is something that will always stay with me. Transitions dont mean you completely uproot yourself from a place- you take some part of that with you- always!

We are looking forward to our new home and a set of new experiences, and from what we have so far, its going to be exciting. Arent all transitions meant to be that way?!!!