Tuesday, October 25, 2011

You Can't Go Home Again - Part 2


So, though I now feel as though there's more than one place I belong, that is not to say, the two places are  identical – heheh, not by any means.  Though people are still people – If you prick me, do I not bleed Buckeye Scarlet/Wolfpack Red? – there is a slight, though fundamental, difference in the overall attitude.

Columbus, to me, feels as an older, bigger city.  The Triangle is a younger, though rapidly-growing area.  It’s only a matter of time before the Triangle area wakes up one day and isn’t as spry as it used to be and Columbus will get its second wind.  But what I’ve noticed is that there just seems to be an air of fatigue hanging over Columbus.  It’s not overwhelming, it’s not stifling, but it’s there – the pressures of being a major metropolitan area, I suppose.

But that’s something I actually like; or perhaps “appreciate” is a better term.  For once in my life, looking back at least, I feel like I’ve lived in an area that’s reflected my own soul: fatigued after a lifetime of working towards something; simply trying to be who I’m meant to be: a functional human being with the purpose of being the best me I can be.  Isn’t that the point of every city, to be the best city it can be?

Goodness knows Columbus has done that and, from my understanding, in recent years has had its share of hard knocks.  Yet, it trudges on, sometimes cheerfully so because of its inhabitants who refuse to throw in the towel.  Reasonable negative comments can be made about the area, but what’s the point?  The same can be done about the Triangle area, about any area.  We’re in a fallen world, there’s something “wrong” with everything of that kind of world.  However, there’s already enough negativity out there to sustain an army of Negative Knights for nigh a nillennium and yet a glaring deficit of positive energy.  Everyone’s got something to complain about because not everyone is going to be happy at the same time.  Shucks, some poor souls can never be happy because they believe happiness is simply some fantasy to be chased only by fools and dreamers who will accomplish nothing of practical value.

But I’ve enjoyed my time in Columbus.  It’s been a learning and growing experience.  Deep, meaningful growth and education always comes with some measure of pain or struggle – otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it; it wouldn’t be real.  From six months of chasing the wind, two months of coming to grips with that and six months of learning to live again I’ve come out a little wiser for the wear with a renewed, clearer sense of purpose, some good, honest friendships and a particularly special relationship that promises to be more than I hoped for or imagined; that is to say, real.

Fantasy is fun but the book, the film, the song, the encapsulation of the idea always has an ending point.  Reality, life being lived, is forever.

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