Does New Mexico change people? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: real estate, purchase, school)

[oceanfit185]

Originally Posted by nmguy

I moved a bit north of Albquerque three years ago from northern California, mainly because I was unhappy and bored with who I was and where I lived.

Recently, I've noticed that in some ways, I am a different, better person than who I was. I'm friendlier, more attentive, and more aware of my surroundings.

I haven't consciously tried to become this way; it just happened.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? What's behind the change -- the people, the landscape, the culture?

I lived in the 505 for a few months, I liked it, it was way sunnier and I was a lot happier on average

[catman]

Originally Posted by nmthorell

I am experiencing a change of attitude even thinking about moving to NM!
We'll be moving up to Timberon (near Cloudcroft) in June.

I am SO looking forward to a quieter, slower, and simpler lifestyle. And I do expect my attitude will change, and will welcome it!

I hear you! I've been looking at Timberon as a place to move to. It has just about the perfect climate, and the homes are not too close together. If I could find work there as a pro musician, I'd move there ASAP.

[hello-world]

yeah. great topic.

it is interesting, to me, how different places have very deeply different feels. call it simply different. call it soul. call it enchantment. call it what you will. it seems, to me, that there are a few places that have the right blend of history, landscape, weather, and people (all of which interwovenly shaping one another) to really resonate in some ways. santa fe, taos, much of the southwest outside of the larger cities, some of upstate new york and vermont, some of virginia, some of alaska, even some of the midwest, in the US, all seem to share this in some way or another. i also find that there are some cities that can really resonate, and some that seem like they are slowly killing any sense of passion within. very weird, to me, almost like these places are like portals of sorts to other ways of seeing and being. really good in some cases. either way, places do seem to change me and my inner sense. new mexico more in particular definitely can have a profound affect, for me at the least, and for plenty of others i've known to have been there. it may just be an especially pretty place, with an especially interesting past, that's attracted people especially moved by those things. maybe something really happened at Roswell, or much, much earlier! maybe it's proximity to all the reservations and deeply spiritual people that tend to resonate more with their environments themselves, and the ruins from a rich past. i do not know exactly what it is, and part of me feels like it's best left to just be rather than be explained.

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by Sarahsez

I don't think living in New Mexico changed me as much as living there allowed me appreciate what I have. Once you start removing the competition and stresses that other places have, you begin to enjoy the surroundings. There is a richness and a luxury there that doesn't equate to having material things.

i think this is right on a big part of it. the richness that is not at all materialistic and plastic.

[designer]

I think NM is very laid back and it sounds like many or you have lived or do
live in larger cities. The state is very nice but I have lived in the West most
of my life and I don't think NM has had a profound change on my life at all.
It's a great place but I can tell you that there are many towns you might not
think are so great. It sounds like most of you are seeking a place from
the rat race (larger metro areas) and a place that is in the slow mode. I can
assure you that after living in California for a long time and then Arizona for
7 years NM is much slower except maybe in Albuquerque. There is also the
mystique of the arts here which I think is very overblown and I worked in a
very creative profession most of my life. All in all it is a great place to live
if you pick the right town. Where I live I notice a lot of people selling and moving back to AZ or Colorado and other places quite often. I think some people think they are looking for a laid back lifestyle find out they are missing
something from the past. I went looking for some popular modern furniture
in Albuquerque the other day and I ended up in Scottsdale, AZ so there are
some drawbacks for some that move to this rural state. I think you have to
live in a place for at least one year before you can tell how it is going to fit
but maybe not.

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by designer

I think NM is very laid back and it sounds like many or you have lived or do
live in larger cities. The state is very nice but I have lived in the West most
of my life and I don't think NM has had a profound change on my life at all.
It's a great place but I can tell you that there are many towns you might not
think are so great. It sounds like most of you are seeking a place from
the rat race (larger metro areas) and a place that is in the slow mode. I can
assure you that after living in California for a long time and then Arizona for
7 years NM is much slower except maybe in Albuquerque. There is also the
mystique of the arts here which I think is very overblown and I worked in a
very creative profession most of my life. All in all it is a great place to live
if you pick the right town. Where I live I notice a lot of people selling and moving back to AZ or Colorado and other places quite often. I think some people think they are looking for a laid back lifestyle find out they are missing
something from the past. I went looking for some popular modern furniture
in Albuquerque the other day and I ended up in Scottsdale, AZ so there are
some drawbacks for some that move to this rural state. I think you have to
live in a place for at least one year before you can tell how it is going to fit
but maybe not.

i agree with your point having to do with living in a place for at LEAST a year (maybe 3) before you really have a feel for the fit for you. lots of places seem GREAT for a while until you really get to know them. and i think it's worth noting that some of NM has some serious gang and drug etc issues, some seriously rural/remote parts (that can be good, and can be bad), some seriously wealthy and out of reach parts (much of santa fe for most people), and it probably depends on where you're coming from and who you are. that said, it still seems to me that northern New Mexico has something a little odd (in a good, good way) about it and deserves the "land of enchantment" moniker...i can see how georgia okeefe and many other artists may have been so attracted to it.

[taosbound]

Being in New Mexico had a profound effect on me. I've never lived there, but I spent a week in Arroyo Hondo this past April, and two more weeks there in May. My stress level went down (even without a decent internet connection), my confidence level went up, I just stopped worrying about the things that I worry about at home, and even my social anxiety improved.

I live in a small town, now, and have for most of my life, but there's something different about Taos County. (The difference was palpable on a trip a friend and I took to Espanola. That doesn't mean I can explain it.) And in Hondo -- where you can leave the front door wide open, the blinds pulled up, and let the dog run free -- it's amazing.

Luckily, I managed to bring some of those changes home with me. But only some. I'm hoping to be back in Hondo by the end of October.

[MMAllen]

Great posts. New Mexico does get in your blood. You can take yourself out of NM but you can never take NM out of you. It is a part of you wherever you go. New Mexico almost has a "spirit" to it. I dont know, hard to describe but most of us native New Mexicans know what I am saying. It really is in your blood

You said it so good!

I moved to Albuquerque from Chicago in 1979, then from Albuq. to Jemez in 1995. Now I live in the UK most of the year, still summers in Jemez. And always spend lots of time in Albuq.

I'm not sure if it changes you...or if it allows you to be who you were already...but definitely there are modifications one makes to stay there, differences from living elsewhere.

Until I moved there, I had learned to walk in big cities with a sort of invisible shield around me. For protection as a single woman. I had to learn to let down that shield in New Mexico, it was not necessary anymore. You slow down. You become less demanding. It smoothes out your ego. As big as the sky is, all that space...you feel yourself expanding, body mind and soul. It's a big "ahhhhhhhhhhhhh" feeling. Especially now that I live mostly in dark, damp, foggy UK, when I come home to NM I am amazed at the COLOR and light. The light is magical.

When I first moved to NM I thought the desert colors were pale and bland. But I began to really SEE color there and learned that the desert is brilliant with every hue imaginable!

I met many many individualistic people, artists, writers, creatives, thinkers, spiritual seekers there. There are many beautiful people there, you see it right away. People dress differently there than the rest of America. Very quickly I began to find excuses NOT to have to go visit anyone anywhere else in the USA on vacations because I could not bear to be torn away from the adobe architecture and have to see boring middle America ticky tacky houses. I do miss the architecture, over here in parts of the UK that have...sigh...ticky tacky houses.

New Mexico is in my blood, definitely, and in my heart forever. If not for very dramatic life events, I never would have left. And I will always return.

Oh yes, smiles, people just smile a lot at you there, walking down the street, in stores, etc. It's not that way everywhere.

I think more people are there for reasons that do not have to do with making big bucks or being a Type A personality...so you can meet more people who have a lot going on upstairs and in thier hearts and spirits. You can chuckle at "New Age" but a lot of good New Age thinking is present in New Mexico, and if you are searching for something and keep your mind and eyes open, you'll probably find it there.

[PowerT]

Originally Posted by GregW

I expect my personality will change when I no longer have to spend 2 hrs a day commuting. Great time waster and you have to pay for it. Annoying.

NH, BTW, is just stunningly beautiful this time of year.

Originally Posted by Sarahsez

I don't think living in New Mexico changed me as much as living there allowed me appreciate what I have. Once you start removing the competition and stresses that other places have, you begin to enjoy the surroundings. There is a richness and a luxury there that doesn't equate to having material things.

Greg,

I also commute 2+ hours per day, leaving at 0530 to do that. My wife and I will be in the Alamo/CC area in early May. We can't wait except for the fact of leaving our children and more important our granddaughter behind.

Sarah,

Your statement is so very true. The problem is most people will not allow themselves to experience that richness and luxury.

After living in Albq in 93/94 we have always longed to return. We just did not know if it would ever happen. I feel decompression coming on.

Troy

[MMAllen]

Interesting about commuting. Maybe it depends on the commute. I was working 60 hrs a week in Albuquerque when I suddenly relocted to Jemez Springs in 1995. I continued working 40-60 hours a week in Albuquerque, commuting 1.5 hours each way. Most days I did the round trip, rarely opted to stay in the city overnight although I had that option. I did this commute 5-6 days a week from 1995-2002. I never tired of it. The drive was so beautiful and was my time to listen to music and zone out. Then when my employers allowed me to bring my dog to work, life got even better! We commuted, often in the truck, me and the dog, the music and the highway. I loved that driving time, I even miss that!

Til you move to a country with very narrow roads and small cars...you don't appreciate what you had with the wide open spaces, big truck, gorgeous sky...

I suppose my carbon footprint has been reduced so that will be the up side I guess!