Jet Setter

3 days, 3 cities, 3 days "off". Most days it takes a full minute after waking to realize my current identity. Where am I? What role am I playing today? Friend? Sister? Flight attendant? Polite stranger? Exhausted ghost? Teacher? It has been a month since I have slept in the same bed twice in a row. Last time I was "home" I repacked and got right into bed where I slept for 4 1/2 hours before getting up, showering and heading to work. This morning I flew in, showered, changed, brushed my teeth, and headed down town to get brunch with my two year old boyfriend and his family. This moment, in which I am sitting at a coffee shop, drinking a soy latte for here and attempting to read, is the first moment I have had to myself with nothing and no one pressing for my time and my attention in about a month. No wonder I napped all weekend. My identity changes every day as my role changes. Today I choose to be adventurous ghost, tonight I will be roommate, and tomorrow I will be responsible flight attendant getting ready for work. I have seen friends recently I haven't seen in 3 plus years, quite a few identity shifts ago. Instead of feeling completely nomadic and homeless, I feel like I have multiple homes in various locations. The sky is my home and so is every where it takes me. And I am the same every where I go, but that doesn't mean my identity there is unchanged. With so many homes I feel the roots of my identity getting shallower as they are each pulled by one another. I belong everywhere and so I don't solely belong anywhere. I am my own identity. And I am thankful for so many couches all around the world! Written 3/19/13