NOLA Changed Me

This trip didn’t go how I expected but maybe it went how it needed to.

I thought I was coming here for connection, girlhood, laughter, shared memory. Instead, I ended up spending most of it with myself. And honestly… I think that was the real assignment.

I learned how to choose me without guilt. How to move at my own pace, even if I’m the only one moving. How to communicate without yelling, without shrinking, without overexplaining.

I realized I can say this isn’t working for me and walk away — not angry, just clear. I don’t have to fix things. I don’t have to chase peace. Sometimes peace is just choosing yourself and being done.

But there was also so much good:

I had gumbo and red beans that tasted like history and soul. I walked the river under cold wind and felt my spirit stretch a little wider that day. I wandered museums by myself, taking my time — no rush, no waiting. I sat at Copper Vine and met a woman who reminded me that life opens in its own timing. She found love at 31. Engaged at 33. She told me my independence isn’t a burden, it’s a blessing. That the right partner won’t dim that, he’ll dance with it.

And then I let life get spontaneous, wine turned into conversation, conversation turned into a club night, and suddenly I’m drunk with strangers at 4 AM like a sequence in a movie. A little chaotic, a little reckless, but it felt real. It felt alive.

Even the annoying moments; the irritating Uber drivers, the miscommunication, the overwhelm they all showed me what I outgrew, what I won’t tolerate, and the kind of energy that no longer fits my life.

I did lose a friendship. Or maybe I just grew past it. It hurts in a quiet way like grief, like shed skin.

But I’m walking forward anyway.

Because this trip reminded me: I’m allowed to choose myself, I’m allowed to take space, I don’t have to carry what I’ve outgrown, and not every story needs a soft ending.

I came here expecting one type of trip and I left with clarity instead.

New Orleans gave me food, art, strangers, river water, and truth.

She gave me reflection.

She gave me growth.

I’m leaving with pictures but more importantly, I’m leaving with me.

Thank you, NOLA, baby!