Parallel Universe
Jenny & Adam
MAKAWAO, Hawaii // It was 12 noon Hawaii time and I was sifting compost. I was working with another farm volunteer and we were using the sifted compost as soil to plant new coffee trees. This other volunteer was a WWOOFer, meaning that unlike us, they were living and volunteering on this farm long term for 3 months. We chatted about where we would be if we had decided not to travel, and it got me thinking. Where would I be right now at this exact moment had I chosen to not take this trip?
Ironically, It was the Thursday before MLK Day. This day previously had no meaning for me, but for the last 7 years it was synonymous with our "end of the year" / holiday party, where I used to work. It would be 5 pm in New York City, and I would be leaving my desk in midtown Manhattan on 5th Avenue. My coworkers and I would be on our way down to a bar off Wall Street in the Financial District to have drinks. The party was at a venue at the southern most tip of Manhattan with a glass window looking out onto the Statue of Liberty. We would all be celebrating the good years we had trading of the stock market in 2015.
I constantly wonder now, on certain days and certain hours, about what my life would be like if I chose to stay in NYC. My life is not better or worse right now, but just drastically different from the normal.