In the process of healing and through some recent events that left me with a great bit of time to contemplate about what it is I want to pursue, I’ve found that I haven’t given myself enough opportunity to become the person I truly enjoy. I’ve spent so much time drowning myself in yet more and more addictions because it is not what I want life to be and seeking an escape that I’ve failed to offer myself the very things that would allow me to value what I’ve been given.
I enjoy Hawaii, it’s one of my favorite places on Earth, but I no longer desire to live there. It just doesn’t have the opportunities I want to pursue for my own edification. I live in a small town at the moment and have almost always lived in such, I don’t much care for all the crowds, traffic, and congestion that large cities attract, yet there is a city large enough not too far from where I live now that offers much of what I want to have in my life on a regular basis.
One, education, I’ve always wanted to pursue more education not for the purpose of employment but simply to learn and to achieve for my own merit. This town has a University and it has a Religious Studies program that I could pursue a Master’s or Ph.D. if accepted, and I would like to do this very much.
Two, a good public library: I hate not having access to books. I like to buy my own, because then I can write in them, but I enjoy learning and I need access to a good library. This town would provide me two, the University and a 6 level public library which I’ve had the opportunity to use before and I like it!
Three, the Arts: I enjoy attending the Opera, symphonies, and the theatre and the town I’m considering offers at least some of each. Only two opera’s per year, unfortunately, but that is more than I had in Hawaii, and more than I have here. I want to attend these things. I grew up going to rock concerts and I enjoy Motley Crue, Kiss, Van Halen, and the like, but those are not the concerts I would spend money to go see regularly anymore. I prefer a civil evening, one that is not wild, but relaxed and the power of the show is not how loud it gets but the range of emotion that the story and the performance is able to draw from me. I’m not the same boy I was 20 years ago, I’m a man who desires a more refined and dignified existence than the one I pursued in high school.
Four, good transit system: I have an automobile, but I really don’t enjoy driving. I would much prefer to have a transit system that is reliable and efficient then drive around town, and use the car for long distance purposes and grocery shopping. The city I have in mind has such a system available, no rail, but a good bus system.
Five, a good atmosphere: The city I have in mind has a few hundred thousand people but the south and west side still have a small town feel to it, and great bike paths to ride and walk along. It is still only an hour away from the beach, an hour away from the mountains, and family is still close by as well, and I would have at least one friend in the area.
Six, good medical resources: I’m close enough I could drive twice per month to keep my therapist and Psychiatrist. Also they have a good hospital and options for a PcP which I don’t have at all at the moment.
I’ve put some thought into this, and I know where I want to live at least for the next few years. Making it public on my blog is just my way of making this a bit more concrete, and to some friends why I’m choosing this particular city to move too.
Wisdom is Found Through Experience 