12/01/05 - 11:38 p.m.

I can't keep pretending that I've forgotten all about the town where I used to live.

I went back and visited over the holidays. Everything seemed so familiar. I'd forgotten what it was like to know all the street names and the cool restaurants. Just strolling around town and exploring.

Some towns are better for that than others...

I wrote this diary entry because I meant what I said in the first sentence.

I can't keep pretending that I've forgotten all about the town where I used to live.

That's an unsuccessful strategy. A little nostalgia can be fun, but more than that - it can be empowering, restoring confidence, putting new problems in a larger perspective.

I've just got to stop doing this thing where I deny my own feelings.

I can't keep pretending that I've forgotten all about the town where I used to live...