Whatever the reality, when people think about California they think of the sun, the beach and never ending parties. A place where people go to hang out and relax and nothing is ever all that serious. Whatever else in life you want, who wouldn’t dream of that? That’s why it was and always would be a place for dreamers. Driving out of the city actually made me nostalgic for the place and I hadn’t even left yet. Sure, anytime you live somewhere you’re going to grow attached to it in one way or another, but living here went beyond the particular details of the city. I can remember when I first arrived here and I took this very road through downtown and into the city. I was moving out here without knowing anyone or even having a place to stay. Downtown seemed so huge and mysterious and I was ecstatic that Gus had called me back and told me he might have room for me in his one room studio. A lot of things had changed since then. I couldn’t live in such a
cramped situation now because I knew I needed my space. There’s no way I could put up with living on top of another person anymore because I was just done living like that. I also didn’t feel the same way about downtown either since now it didn’t seem to be quite as big and certainly not as mysterious, especially because I knew getting around downtown LA was a logistical nightmare. I guess those kinds of personal changes are the only things you can rely on to stay the same. Leaving the same way I arrived seemed to tie everything up though. As if this part of my life was now complete and I could go and not have have to worry about ever coming back. And that was good. Because coming back was the last thing on my mind. People who live in LA will often say they make a conscious effort to get out of the city because if you don’t the city will just consume your entire life. Your only reality becomes the city itself, and in a place where so many people are pushing and trying to do the same thing, it was an easy trap to fall into. I suppose it’s true enough anywhere, but it seemed to be especially true in LA. Well, LA and Vegas. But if your reality becomes Vegas, it consumes you in about a week…at best. Regardless, I had fallen into the LA trap too. All I thought about was work and about what exactly I was doing with myself to succeed in some way shape or form in the entertainment industry. Which lately wasn’t all that much, but still. After getting outside the city all that stuff melted away pretty though. It was easy to forget that there was an entire state outside of LA, but once you were actually outside the city it was inescapable. California really is a beautiful place. The rolling hills and ocean views are breathtaking and seem to stretch far off into the horizon. On a clear day it looks like the beauty spreads forever.