Onwards & Upwards … Looking West

Exactly three weeks ago, on November 01, I took an early morning one-way flight from Philadelphia and relocated to Denver, Colorado.

Now, if you’ve kept up with me recently or have heard about my travels from this summer, you might be wondering how I could possibly be continuing to bop around for the past ~6 months. I am also wondering this myself ◡̈

The reality is that I’ve had a wonderful community of people helping support me on this journey of radical self-discovery, acceptance & improvement, including helping with lodging and providing other support while I’ve had to figure out a few things both personally and professionally. It has been challenging to have been “unsettled” in more ways than one over the past few months, but I don’t regret my decision to put my full faith & focus into my own energy and pursuing my passions.

I’m someone who really values and thrives on having my own “space” — which usually looks like having a nicely set up living situation where I can exist freely and fully: taking up space, moving, dancing, singing, practicing yoga & meditation, writing, creating, etc. So it’s been quite a challenge in and of itself to maintain these practices with my somewhat nomadic lifestyle recently. Now, I know I am ready to settle down for a little while and find a place where I can flourish and explore these creative channels.

After my ~4-year stint in NYC and after my 10-week trip to Europe this summer, I’ve had a lot of experience with various cities and environments. I know I like a metropolitan and cosmopolitan atmosphere with plenty of interesting and exciting art & culture, but I now know I also need to prioritize time spent in nature, with a focus on peace, quiet & calm. Denver seemed like the kind of place that already had all of that (and more!), all in one place. Plus, the adventurer in me wanted to turn my life in the States all the way around, and I wanted to experience living in other areas of the country apart from the East Coast.

I have a few close friends already living and thriving in Colorado who encouraged me to join them in the mountains, so I already have had a sense of belonging. It’s hard to believe it’s only been three weeks since I arrived, since time has flown by pretty quickly ! I have already made several new friends as well, and am well on my way to integrating into the Denver community.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time walking, hiking or biking in the Wissahickon Valley Park, a special wooded oasis in the middle of Northwest Philadelphia. The name originally comes from two Lenape names: “wissauchsickan,” meaning “yellow colored stream” and “wisamickan,” meaning “catfish stream.” The Lenapes were the original inhabitants of southeast Pennsylvania, their distant ancestors having come from the Bering Strait twelve to eighteen thousand years ago. The word “Lenape” means “original people.” But these indigenous people were tragically forcibly uprooted from their homeland, the area known as Lenapehoking, and driven westward to find home in new lands. Read more about the history of the Lenape people and their land here and here.

When I decided I was going to move to Colorado, one of the last (but very important) things I did before I left my hometown was to visit the impressive marble statue of the Native American Tedyuscung that is perched high up among the trees. According to the Friends of the Wissahickon, Tedyuscung was not a chief by lineage, but was a prominent spokesman who lived in the 18th century and was involved with negotiations between the French to the west, the Iroquois to the north, and the Quakers and Anglicans in Philadelphia. At one point Tedyuscung declared himself the king of 10 nations, which were the six nations of the Iroquois, three Lenape tribes and a related Algonquian tribe.

The most visited out of the three statues in the park, this statue, also called “Looking West” was donated in 1902 by Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Henry, two prominent Philadelphians, and created by sculptor J. Massey Rhind. Although it is not technically accurate for various reasons (read more here), it is meant to symbolically represent a group of people displaced from their homeland.

As a young woman exploring the world trying to find myself and make sense of a multi-cultural and multi-religious background, I empathize deeply with the Native American Lenape people forced out of their homeland who had to re-learn how to live in other environments and try to preserve their culture while effectively being made to assimilate into Western colonial culture in order to survive.

To bring this back to the modern world, despite news of a possible ceasefire soon, with the war continuing on in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, it is hard not also to think of the many displaced, or alternatively, trapped people who are being affected by the horror and violence every day on both sides, both Israeli and Palestinian. Innocent Palestinian children that will never be able to see or experience anything other than pain and tragedy, if they live. Jewish families yearning for their loved ones held hostage to be freed and allowed to return home. People everywhere around the world desperately wanting peace between humans instead of war between ideologies, religions, countries and cultures.

What makes us unique as people and societies (differences in culture, religion, language, self-expression, relationships, social norms, etc.) is so small compared to what unites us. We are all living, breathing humans with a beating heart full of emotion and the capacity to use wisdom and intuition to choose love over hate, good over evil.

We all have a basic human right to exist, to take up space, to return to our roots, to live in peace and safety. I wish it weren’t so hard for those rights to be realized around the world.

I am grateful for my privilege to be able to choose where and how I want to rebuild my life so that I can live in a way that is in alignment with who I am and the values by which I live.

I am also still going through an intense period of deep, sometimes difficult, transformation and transition, and this path is not easy, nor for the faint of heart.

But the mixed sensation of newfound freedom, clarity, inspiration and adventure is something I feel strongly here in Colorado, and I wouldn’t trade it for any of the comforts from back East. I wish everyone would be able to witness this feeling too; I’m going to try my best and share my experiences here as I continue settling in here in the Mountain West so I can hopefully convey some of it.

So, off we go — onwards and upwards, always (literally, to the Mile High City!).

Rising in altitude, soaring to new heights, unlocking my full potential.

With heart full and eyes turned towards the sky, I look forward to what the next chapter in this new city will bring. Excelsior !!

Stay tuned for more ◡̈

xoxo Rosa