Happy Friday! This is #3 on a series on Place. You can read the set-up and previous posts here and here.
I discovered Laura’s blog over a year ago and it’s one of my favorites. I love the rhythm of both her topics and her writing. I was thrilled to have her answer my question because of all the years I spent dreaming of moving to Hollywood. Laura made it happen. And here she tells the tale.
Laura blogs at Hollywood Housewife.
When I moved to Los Angeles, I had never been here before. The first day I wound my way through the city, I held back the lump in my throat because the city wasn’t what I expected.
What most people know about LA is what they see on the screen, either Beverly Hills or Compton. But those are both really small areas of the city. Most of Los Angeles is more normal, with neighborhoods and parks, delis and Target. Early on, I stumbled onto some good advice about where to live. It was a fit for me, and I’ve been in the general Hollywood area for over ten years.
I felt at home almost immediately, not because I fell in love with the city – I didn’t – but because I wanted to run away from Oklahoma and I had. What felt like home to me was having my own space. And 1,000 miles away from where I grew up was a lot of space.
These days, Los Angeles is definitely where I feel the most at home, even if it is so different from my roots. Whenever I grow tired of it, I travel. A few things about this vast city of sunshine that make me weary:
The sheer size. Los Angeles is huge. It’s not like New York where you could hit all the major hotspots in a day and be home for dinner. If you tried to see the Hollywood sign, Malibu, and Venice Beach all in one day, you’d have to start at dawn. This means that if you make a new friend who lives on the westside, you’ll probably never see them. They might as well live in Vegas as far as convenience is concerned.
It’s shallow. This is cliche, and this is true. Although it might not mean what you think. I don’t personally hang in an area that is full of Barbie-lookalikes, although of course there is a lot of that here. But in the entertainment industry, if you’re not in a position to scratch someone’s back, they rarely scratch yours. So it’s hard to make friends or even business contacts when you’re unaware – or painfully aware – of other motivations.
It’s expensive. This seems self-explanatory, but this is about more than just rent. It takes a sizable chunk of money here to live well. Everything from groceries to thrift stores is priced more than in the middle of the country. Education is outrageous.
It’s left-leaning. There is no question that Los Angeles is heavily liberal, and at many a dinner my face has flushed with anger when someone has assumed I believe and vote in the same way they do. When I first moved here, I felt like a lonely island in my belief system.
Without fail, I get homesick for Los Angeles before I’m barely out of my own zip code. A few of the things that will keep me here forever:
The hopeful mentality. I’m not the first or the millionth person to flee to Los Angeles from somewhere else. There are a lot of people here who wanted a fresh start, who are living a life deliberately chosen. In the air hangs all the possibilities: the waitress who just needs one more audition, the screenwriter pouring all his ideas into a single script.
The weather. Again with the cliches, but once you’ve lived in Southern California it’s hard to settle for any other climate. It’s warm during the day and chilly in the evening. The sun shines brightly here. Even the rainy days are beautiful.
It’s left-leaning. Yes, the same thing I loathe about it is something I also love about it. Surviving in a location where the majority of opinions are so different from my own has opened my heart and my mind. I’ve had to defend my position, and a few times I’ve even had to change it, once I better understood myself. It’s possible that my political and religious path would have widened with age and maturity not matter where I lived, but since I’ll never know, I’ll credit the west coast with softening my spirit.
The city of Angels is large, finicky, and mysterious place. But I’m just as drawn to it now as I was looking at the glossy magazine pages as a girl. Maybe even more so now that I understand all the layers behind the pretty pictures.
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Headed to Love and Respect conference tonight, hope to see some of you there! Travis and I will be in the Student Ministries Worship Room. Have a great weekend, regardless of where it takes you…
Coming along for Lent? I posted here and here and am updating on the FB page.
Thank you for featuring me! I can get quite long-winded about this city I call home.
I love Laura! She writes one of my favorite blogs as well and this is great and she sums up what it’s like living here perfectly. Mostly everyone I know here has come from somewhere else. I love it that way because if they hadn’t there is no way a California girl like me would of married a guy from Michigan like my husband!
xo
Beautiful writing! What a perfect way to describe Laura’s writing–the rhythm of her topics and her writing. I agree!
Laura, I love that it felt like home because you had your own space and the effort it took in doing so. I wouldn’t have described my move to Nashville in those terms but I think that’s part of why it felt like home so quickly.
This really resonated with me. “It’s possible that my political and religious path would have widened with age and maturity not matter where I lived, but since I’ll never know, I’ll credit the west coast with softening my spirit.” As a born-and-raised Tennessee girl living in Northern California, I’ve definitely developed more of an open-mind, but I’m not sure if it’s my stage of life or placement. Either way, I’m grateful.