unrequited crushes - by joy gracia - joyfull encounters

last week, C asked me: how have you changed? i interpreted it as: how much have you changed since you moved to new york four years ago? i moved to the city after having spent four full years on the golden coast. as college graduation approached, i started feeling less and less like myself. on a whim i decided, the unfamiliar can’t possibly worse than what i already did know. so i moved without much thought or plan. a reckless decision that proved to be the best one i have made thus far. on the surface, it feels like so much has changed. i have lived in seven different apartments. colored my hair twice. career transitioned. lived through a pandemic. but deep down, i feel more or less the same. or at least, i still feel the same way about most things. that i still hate exercising, but i run a few times a week anyways because i know it is good for me. that i refuse to believe people can change. that the most important thing in life is agency. but there is something in me that did change a

last week, C asked me: how have you changed? i interpreted it as: how much have you changed since you moved to new york four years ago? i moved to the city after having spent four full years on the golden coast. as college graduation approached, i started feeling less and less like myself. on a whim i decided, the unfamiliar can’t possibly worse than what i already did know. so i moved without much thought or plan. a reckless decision that proved to be the best one i have made thus far. on the surface, it feels like so much has changed. i have lived in seven different apartments. colored my ha