Yesterday I moved from Nashville, my home of four years, back to Indianapolis for a week. The sun is less harsh, the streets are quieter, and I get to listen to my parents bemoan how the neighborhood fountain hasn’t been turned on all summer. I am once again in a different sector of my life, and in less than a week I will begin a new one in Bournemouth, England, a little town on the South coast of the country.

Why am I moving to Bournemouth? I’m glad you asked. After months of skepticism toward LUMOS and if it was the right decision for me, I took a leap of faith in early February and decided that I was going to apply for the March 15th deadline. There’s a reason it’s recommended that you prepare your application in at least four months—I spent day after day waking up at the crack of dawn to Zoom with non-profit leaders across Europe and stayed up late all of Spring break writing essays. I decided pretty early on that I wanted to work with a creative writing non-profit; after interning with the Porch, the South’s leading creative writing non-profit, I realized how much I loved being part of an organization that promotes creative writing and forms community around it. In a storm of luck and diligence, I found The Story Works in late February, and after a few minutes of speaking with their director, I knew I had found the right place. I submitted my application just in time on March 14th at 11:59 p.m.—my opponents were fuming.

The pure ecstasy I felt upon receiving the news that I was moving to England turned into practicality as I spent much of the summer in preparation mode. This included fighting bureaucracy and crossing my fingers to receive my visa in time, which, despite its frustrations, was an insightful look into the immigration process. I secured housing (I’ll be living with a host family), bought my flights with my fancy new credit card, registered with the NHS, and prepared for my job by scheduling and preparing assemblies with ten elementary schools in the Bournemouth area.

I’m ready for a change, but it’s bittersweet to say goodbye to a community that means so much to me. Last week I had my last day at Cafe Ma’kai, the cafe that I’ve worked at for nearly three years, and it was the first time the reality of my move sunk in. Several loved ones came in to see me, and the following week I played a house show with my band, The Scarecrows, to say my final goodbyes. I’ve noticed that goodbyes come easy for me—I have a strong instinct that I’ll return to the people and places that matter to me most, and I know that I’ll be seeing my Nashville friends very soon.

With a lot of things coming to an end—college, jobs, and even Portland Brew—I’m reminded that sometimes temporality is necessary to make something special. I wouldn’t love college anymore if I’d have spent ten years enrolled, and I’d probably start to loathe being a barista if I stayed at Ma’kai full time. I’m ready to look back on the past four years in Nashville as what it was—a very special time—and to walk into this next chapter with faith and courage.

I’ll talk to you in England!

Elisabeth

My going away house show