As a Black Woman, I Discovered Life-Changing Lessons in the Desert

By KARIM ORANGE via https://hellogiggles.com/

IT TOOK MOVING OUT OF NEW YORK CITY TO HELP ME LEARN ABOUT MYSELF.

I grew up in New York City and always loved it. For years, I reveled in the intensity, diversity, and extreme nature of my hometown with its 9 million residents — one hot subway car might contain a texting hedge fund manager, a ballerina practicing her pliés, and a couple arguing in any one of the more than 200 languages spoken in the city. But that changed during the pandemic when I suddenly felt suffocated in the density of the city and frustrated with obnoxious people who weren’t abiding by the CDC’s recommendations. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and made the drastic decision to find a place far, far away with more space and fewer people and buildings. 

After only seeing a couple of National Geographic documentaries and some gorgeous photos online, I started researching Moab, Utah. As luck would have it, I had a friend working there who offered to hook me up with a four-month….

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