Writer’s Block from May 28, 2010:

What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done? Are you glad you did it? Would you do it again?

I really don’t know the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done, simply because I’ve done a lot of things that were dangerous without realizing they’re dangerous. But I do know which one was the scariest (outside of the stuff that I wouldn’t share on a public blog).

In October 1998, I moved from Greenville, NC, to Clayton, NC, without an increase in my income or any additional savings. In fact, I took what amounted to a demotion in order to make the move. I wanted out of the job I was in, and Greenville, that badly. Moving from one town to another can be daunting, but moving without extra savings and a higher salary is downright frightening.

It didn’t happen well; I ended up in a rob-Peter-pay-Paul cycle that, by 2001, had completely ruined my credit rating. I lost the home I’d had in Clayton to a repossession and moved into a very small (though very nifty!) apartment in Raleigh itself. But it was cheap enough that I was able to start slowly climbing out of the hole I’d made.

That 1998 move was the best thing I’ve ever done. It got me into a place where I could “come into my own” and create my own life instead of continuing the trends from growing up. I can go back to Greenville without angst these days, although I’ll likely never actually move back. I don’t think I’d have managed to survive if I hadn’t left, though.

I wouldn’t just do it again. I did do it again.

Making it through that move also gave me the courage to do something even larger in 2006: I moved from Raleigh to Atlanta (for personal reasons that I prefer not to discuss). This time, I nearly moved without having a job at all — I’d told my old supervisor that I was leaving before I landed the first job I had here.

The difference, though, was that I had enough saved up to make it through the move and for a couple of months after. Instead, I used it to avoid moving on a shoestring instead of a budget. Plus, thanks to the move to the Research Triangle, I knew I’d be able to handle it. It wasn’t easy either, but I did, and with a lot less worry.

I’ll admit that moving to Atlanta probably wasn’t a good idea. Moving away from Raleigh, though, was. The issues that prompted the move don’t exist anymore so I do want to move back to North Carolina. This time, though, I’m not worried about it at all.