The Heart of the Matter
For as far back as I can remember into my early teenage life I have always wanted to live in a place where I could be close to the heart of the people around me. That in and of itself is a rather difficult statement to interpret and being such I will spell it out a little more clearly.
I want to live in a place that knows what it has and wants nothing more. Be it country or city. I have found that the suburbs are generally ruled out since everyone and everything in the suburbs wants something more than he/she/it already has. The suburbs are not shrines to contentment. Were I to choose to live in a city, I would want that city to be proud of its achievements and its shortcomings. I would want the citizens there to love each other simply for being a citizen there and for them all to be concerned for the well being of businesses, parks, etc. about their town.
As for the country, the country is often a place of great contentment. Rarely do you find the people living there wanting more than they have. They are often proud of what they have and often have worked very hard for it. There is a strong sense of community and a general concern for the well being of others. This is what I seek. This is what I need.
Having grown up in the incessant want and grumbling self-pity of the suburbs I can say quite confidently it is not for me. I need a place with a garden. Be it in buckets or over acres. I need a community interested in itself but not for its own sake. I need either open skies and green fields or hungry masses eager to succeed and to build and to create. Simplicity, love, devotion to an ideal and the hunger for something more out of life drives me and fuels my own creativity. These suburbs starve me and wither my mind despite my attempts to grow it. I think it is only a matter of time before I pull up roots and find a new home away from the gossip and idle chatter.
