Crossing the Ditch

Leaving home for the first time — it's most often when a person goes off to college, gets married or makes a major life change. My new life began as the old one ended. Not with a bang but with a whimper, as they say. I had simply aged out of my community at the Beach. I began to venture out into my new city and loved the rush, pace and animation of the crowd of various people bestirring themselves from one point to another. I knew I had to be here. Finding the calm in the park within the bustling streets sparked such a yearning in me, I simply could not ignore it. Everyone back at my beach areas asked me if I'd miss the ocean, the ease, the blasé loitering around which our lives revolved. I didn't bother answering that I was a mere 30 minutes away; rather, I simply said, "I'll find out."

            What I have come to find out is that Riverside/Avondale and the Beaches are like parallel universes. There are similarities that I'm pleased to say surprised me. In Riverside, there are coffee shops, bookstores, cafes — much like at the Beaches. They just happened to be owned and or operated by people with serious tattoos, vibrant blue hair and ironic sleepy looks. Obviously, the big selling point of the Beaches is the ocean, where people spend their time chasing the daylight and catching the surf. In my new digs, we have the River. People are throwing frisbees, trailing kites and playing chess on park benches. I admire the way everyone seemed to be eager to invite strangers into the games and onto the fields. Doesn't feel that way on the sandy beaches anymore.

            I feel that now, more than any other time in my life, I need to be a part of something big, to contribute to the place that I now call home. After all, when you're in the heart of the city, you should hear its beat. I found myself searching the papers and circling any event where I believed I could further my knowledge of the community. What I came to realize is that this knowledge led me to meet the people who make up the heartbeat of our city, the vibrant ones who pulse along in its adventure of becoming a more culturally advanced community: the One Sparkers, the Captivators, the Artwalkers and the CoRkers. And I fell in love with them. To be welcomed in with open arms made me stop and really contemplate the significance of each individual who has made a difference in our community. In those moments, I knew that I, too, could be one of them.

            Before I came to the Downtown Jacksonville area, I never really gave strangers a second chance. Anyone who happened to look a little different from my friends and me wasn't given a second glance or opportunity to be among us. Now I can honestly and humbly say that my justification for not branching out has been proved very wrong. And I could not be happier. "Crossing the Ditch" turned out to be the best decision I have ever made.