So, I've been living in Colorado for just over a month now. To say that I feel like I "belong" here is an understatement. This self-professed city girl with small town roots is actually a mountain girl, through and through. Shocked? Me too.
I will even go so far as to say that Denver is too big a city for me. If I had said that to myself 5 years ago, I would've scoffed at the statement before pitying the poor soul who thought city-life wasn't where you find everything worth finding. Turns out - everything worth finding is right outside my window and I can take off skiing for two hours, no sweat. I don't need to plan a whole day or weekend around an outdoor activity; I can go anytime I want because it's all right HERE! Being so close to all these invigorating pastimes somehow forces you to get out. I'd feel like a damn fool if I didn't get a pair of skis on my feet at least once a week. In a big city, I didn't feel that motivation. And I crave it now.
I was talking with a great guy I recently met and we both agreed that there's something special about the people who live in Colorado. We decided that everyone here is secretly (or maybe not so secretly) thinking to themselves, "Man, I really made some good choices in my life to end up here." It's like we've all found the key to happiness in this crazy mountain living. It screams of never settling. Of life being too short not to enjoy every moment. Of being shit scared to do something but doing it anyway, just because you can. People literally climb mountains and ski off cliffs here. Why do anything less than terrifying and awe-inspiring? It's all so worth it.
I've met some wonderfully like-minded people here as well. At first, though, it's easy to get wrapped up in the novelty of things that are starkly different. I found myself spending a lot of time with the gnar-shredding, ski-bum, pothead crowd during my first couple weeks in Colorado. I was enamored with the slang and the lifestyle. I had never been around anything like it before and it felt new and completely awesome. I still think those alpine ski bums are fantastic and I'm happy to live in a valley full of them. But I've also found a couple girls who I can always count on for a night of epic fun or a quiet day of talking about anything at all. I've also met a couple guys who are insightful, passionate, great at giving advice, and just plain FUN. It's the people who make you better that are worth spending time with. The people who remind you of the things you are and want to be... and push you to be them. It's the people who make you go down blue runs when you know you're scared to do it. The ones who knock on your door as soon as they get home to see how your day was. I can forget that fact sometimes... when the allure of "newness" wafts by. It's good to remember. And I've had a lot of great reasons to remember in the last few weeks.
Life is... great.
