Oh Yeah... I Live In Los Angeles!

I love living in Los Angeles. Being a reformed recluse, I have discovered there are endless avenues for adventure. A newly discovered coffee shop here. A relaxing and cozy used bookstore there. Not to mention the various options of entertainment venues Los Angeles has to offer. In my view the only thing lacking is that "sociable stranger" element that is missing. You just can't regularly strike up a conversation with someone in passing without the more than likely possibility that they will be too frightened, annoyed, or in a hurry to acknowledge you. So, as with most Los Angelenoes, barring some unusual bonding moment like the malfunctioning of the fire alarm in the apartment complex or some other random event to force you out of your comfort zone, we all just trot about our merry lives enjoying the bubble of our own world of friends. I think it is the "Philadelphian" in me, who is use to chatting with my neighbors and laughing with fellow strangers on the SEPTA bus, and on some level misses that tiny but comforting sense of community.

What am I rambling on about?

Who knows... my mind just traveled there as I laugh at this crazy place I now call home.

Last night, after listening to my dose of Abraham-Hicks youtube clips, I prepared for bed rampaging on the happiness I felt and the deep sense of calm that has begun to settle into my mind. I enjoyed a late night shower grateful for the hot water and imagining the endless possibilities. Even after drinking a pot of gunpowder green tea, I was so relaxed I dove into bed, curled up under the covers and drifted into my awaiting dreamworld.

I was knee deep in a very exciting film noire styled adventure that had me matching whits with some French sounding mafia killer. Yes, this dream was a "doozey" when all of a sudden the sound of "F&@*k YOU!" grabbed me by the neck and dragged me back to the reality of my darkened bedroom.

It was 5 a.m., according to my clock. I found myself instinctively searching my apartment certain that the person whose mouth physically yanked me awake was somewhere inside, hiding in the darkness. Don't you just  love the surreal quality of being half awake in the dark? Somehow knew I was suppose to be responding to something but I was completely clueless, with only the strange bodily tingling that comes with being shocked into conscious awareness.  After 3 minutes of standing in my pitch black living room completely lost as to why I was there, that ungodly scream of "F&@*K YOU!" rolled through my apartment like a freight train, once more. This time it came from my bedroom, through my balcony window, and down the alley of my apartment complex. The distinct drunken quality to the yell from the shadows made sense to my now functioning brain..

I could do nothing but laugh. Realizing my French mafia killer was not lurking in my kitchen, I went back to bed. One last scream from the drunken mystery man stirred the neighbors directly above me, but filled me with so much humor I found myself literally laughing myself back to the new dreams that awaited my return.

I spent so much of the night before focusing on choosing happiness, leaving stress and anger behind, it was an amusing joke from the Universe to wake me up "certain" my life was in danger! HAHA! Wow! As I realized that angry drunken man of the shadows had no effect on me or my happiness, I could not stop laughing. Lessons come from the most unusual sources!  It is so easy for me to get wrapped up in the drama of my life that last night's visitor was strangely comforting. He was not exactly the "sociable stranger" I was looking for but he was strange.

Either way, the "bubble" of my insular LA life was burst wide open. I was quickly reminded, there is an endless supply of stories playing out in every moment all around me. They don't have to impact my happiness one bit. However, it is nice to know that we are all on our individual journeys in many ways together.