Live Chicago: Cause It's Always A Good Time~!

Back in the month of October, I had a strange dream that I returned to San Francisco to see my family and friends like I usually do during the year, only to learn that something terrible was going to happen. My siblings were all sitting at the kitchen table, while my parents informed me last that they had sold the house in San Francisco and are moving out of the Bay Area to some place like Sacramento. Devastated and uneasy about that decision, I went to my siblings and asked why no one stopped them. My siblings all looked at me and said, "No one wants to move back home."

The feelings I felt in that dream stuck with me the next day and moved me to purchase a plane ticket homeward bound to San Francisco as a reality check that I still have a home there. This dream reminded me about how important San Francisco is to me. It is where I grew up with my siblings, made my first friends, and spent most of my whole life in the 27 years I have been alive. Losing the house in San Francisco wasn't just the loss of living in a great city, it felt like I would lose a big part of my identity and roots.

In some ways, I think the instability of my situation in Chicago triggered a lot of my recent thoughts of San Francisco. Four years ago, this organization was my dream engineering job. I used to wonder if I would ever make it back here and when I did, I thought this place could be home for me. Now that things are different, and the outlook for science in the organization isn't so great, I wonder if I should be on the hunt for the next job again. Would I want to try and find something to stay in Chicago?

After thinking about it the last couple of months, I decided that I would see this position to the end. And that when the end comes, I would just return to San Francisco. This plan might be a terrible one to most people, but I find that the end here would not leave me devastated and lost. If I return home, I would be reunited with my friends from middle school and high school, I would use the time off as an opportunity to focus solely on my art for a while, and figure out what the next move is before I go back out there in the world. For that, I am thankful to my parents, for giving me a place to return to when things end or don't work out. I know the last couple of paragraphs are all over the place, but all those thoughts are interconnected in a way I can't truly express in words. Anyways, on to PICTURES!