September 27, 2009

• Recently I had an excuse to go visit Irvine, CA, specifically around the UCI area. I've on occasion traveled to the Irvine Spectrum or the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater from time to time, but it's been a long time since I've actually visited the surrounding UCI area. My wife used to attend that school many years ago, when I started dating her. She stayed there in the dorms and apartments, so I would practically be in that area just about every day. Walking around the University Center recently, I realized that I missed this city. It's simply a nice place to live, as it has a nice balanced combination of suburban and urban areas. Admittedly the city I live in now kind of have the same description, but there's just something about Irvine that makes it "better." Sure it's an expensive city to live in, but still...

  I'm sure nostalgia played a big role in how I was feeling, and my opinion about the city is cleared biased. I was after all there so often that it got to the point where I knew the area really well, making it feel like another city to call home. That's it then, Irvine is a home that I used to live in, and visiting it recently was like visiting the past. It was a weird feeling, because it felt comforting to be some place familiar, but at the same time things have changed enough that it reminded me that this isn't exactly how I remembered it. In a way this feeling is no different than visiting the college I went to, an old job, my high school, my old homes, etc... It's a peak to the past that was. An appreciation of what I've experienced. Memories that still lives on with me in those places. A reminder about how much time has passed, especially when the present and future can always feel so unsure.

  I feel like we all should take some occasional opportunities to re-visit places that we used to frequently be at. If anything else, it's a reminder of who you were back then, that helped make you the person you are now.

  • 8:16 pm
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