Koyo began (arguably) in late 2002/early 2003 as my comfortable and somewhat secure middle-class life in which I was finally rising in my business career dramatically came unraveled in a devastating financial and psychological collapse. The details of this tumultuous epoch can be read in the Koyaanisqatsi Chronicles on this blog.
One of the most observable things I lost during this time was the standard of living I'd enjoyed prior to the commencement of Koyo. Now don't get me wrong. I was in no way well-to-do or even near it. I was still using payday loans and my credit was shit. My income was only in the lower middle class range as well. But I don't measure the comfort level I had then solely by raw financial numbers. In fact, to be honest, I look back at my Microsoft Money files from those days and I was as vulnerable then as anytime during the Koyo years. (And that financial vulnerability was exposed right quick once the winter of '02-'03 set in, believe you me.) But the one thing I had which was destroyed during the Koyo years was confidence. I tacitly acknowledged my paycheck-to-paycheck existence but it didn't worry me...I thought I was on the verge of greater things and nothing was going to stop me.
This cocksure mentality had its pros and cons. I pushed limits and acted quite entitled which I'm sure caused more grief than good. But at least I didn't live in constant fear.
Chief among the tangible assets that I felt was a symbol of my security then was my apartment at Park Central. Though small by many peoples' standards, being a 600 sq. ft. one-bedroom, it was condo-like (later to actually become a condo) and in the heart of a beautifully landscaped resort-style gated community of similar young professionals.
Now, some twelve years later, I finally am back in a very eerily similar place. How similar? Well let's see:
THEN
- Large living/dining room in a vaulted ceiling top floor unit with an open floor kitchen/living area plan.
- Kitchen: White stick-built cabinets with European hinges and brushed nickel pulls. Faux-granite laminate counters.
- Dark brown living room seating.
- Large European-style bed with extra firm mattress.
- Light oak TV stand.
- Large living/dining room in a vaulted ceiling top floor unit with an open floor kitchen/living area plan.
- Kitchen: White stick-built cabinets with European hinges and brushed nickel pulls. Faux-granite laminate counters.
- Dark brown living room seating.
- Large European-style bed with extra firm mattress.
- Light oak TV stand.
Eerie, huh? Well, I'll admit some of those similarities are due to my own unchanged design sense and others due to the construction standards of the late eighties when both complexes were likely built.
But it does feel like I'm "back" in a sense. Comfortable job I like, okay pay, and this "young professional" apartment. Though I'm certainly no longer young and not quite professional, many of my neighbors are so they conduct themselves accordingly. A very much appreciated difference from the recent Bellagio apartments milieu.
So to get back to my original question...is Koyo over?
Maybe the best answer would be to make an analogy to a cold. After the initial symptoms of the onset of a cold and then the coughing and congestion and body aches and such give way to the waning affects and the return to good health, are you then done with your cold? The answer is, of course, for now. Your body has successfully fought off this variant of the cold virus and would be immune to repeated incursions of this specific variant. But the cold virus is ever-changing and there's no guarantee regarding contact with another variant on down the line.
So I guess the last chills and sniffles from my original bout of Koyo are just now a memory.
But it doesn't mean I can't catch a new variant again. To be honest, unlike a cold virus, there's actually no immunity against the same exact thing happening all over again.