Census '10

I just finished filling out my census paper. It wasn't hard--just X a few boxes and put it back in the envelope to be mailed. But it got me thinking...I for real live in Arkansas.

This is not a temporary place where I'm residing, waiting on the next phase of life. I live here. This may not seem like a big revelation to you, dear readers, but it was to me. Up until now, I have been in transition. College was four years in one place. Grad school was three years in one place, and one year of interning in another. That is all over. I am here. I live in the Rock. For the first time, I am a self-sufficient adult. I have a job. I have an apartment. I am counted in the census as Person 1.

I am still adjusting to this being home. I don't feel unsettled but I also don't feel completely settled yet. I think it will take more than a couple of months for that feeling of absolute home to arrive. There isn't another place that feels like absolute home (besides home with the fam--which has a different feeling of home-ness than I'm writing about here. Make any sense?). And I do think that I will be here for a while. I like my life here. I am just discovering that life here is not a temporary phase. So thank you Census 2010 for showing me that I really do live here on the Rock.