For some of us, the process of discovering what we’re made to do is not unlike the process of finding a girlfriend. We look and look, taking into account our strengths, our weaknesses, what we’re looking for, what we know we could never live with, what we think will fulfill us. Perhaps we dabble in several at a time, hoping that being able to compare them simultaneously will help the discernment process, but ending up frustrated because we aren’t able to fully commit to any single one. And all of a sudden, while hanging out with one of our very oldest friends, we have a rare and unexpected moment of clarity. This is the one we’re meant to spend the rest of our lives with.

For the record, I absolutely do not condone the dating method that I just described. But for me and design, the decision to finally commit all of me to the pursuit of form and function was like returning to an old friend. One that had been by my side through thick and thin, through all of my little affairs with fashion, psychology, biology, ministry – you name it, I probably thought about doing it. And in the same way that you’d never think your best friend could end up being your wife someday, it took me a while to realize that, aside from Jesus, design was truly the one thing I could spend my whole life fully and wholly immersed in. The one thing that I can’t learn enough about, the one thing that I skip meals for, the one thing that I will do all day and all night even if it’s for free, because it both utilizes and challenges my giftedness.

And so begins a new and sharply focused chapter of my life. I’ll be moving from sunny, beautiful, mellow San Diego to bleak, cold, urban San Francisco in pursuit of my MFA in Web Design & New Media at the Academy of Art. I’ll be leaving incomparable housemates, a stellar church, an incredible graduate therapy program, and some of the truest friends I’ve ever known. Yet, inexplicably, I’m excited. Not necessarily for the move, but for the focus, for the newness, and for design. It’ll be good getting to know her as more than just a friend.