Forgive the brief religious discussion, but as a Catholic, I'm familiar with the philosophy of free will - the idea that God gives us the road map but we have the opportunity to veer away from the plan and make our own way from time to time.
This internal discussion on life comes to mind after a conversation we had at the dining room table over the Easter holiday.
What kind of family would we be if we had never moved away from Cincinnati? my dad asked.
We left the Queen City's suburbs after my freshman year in high school, moving to a quaint town on the coast of Connecticut.
Life in New England - about an hour and a half from NYC and two hours from Boston - was unlike anything we'd collectively experienced.
I agreed with my dad. The experience made us better traveled people. Because of the move, we are quite familiar with Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire - spending weekends trekking to Freeport and Camden and Keene and Burlington, Stowe, Bromley, Newport, Watch Hill (probably one of my favorite towns out east) and on and on and on.
The move had an impact on our political beliefs, national perspective and other points of personal philosophy.
This past weekend I spent some time in Lexington with old TV colleagues I hadn't seen in about 5-10 years.
Being in my old hometown, hanging with old friends from another time in my life, visiting our old haunts - it all made me wonder similar thoughts. What kind of person would I be if I hadn't moved back to Cincinnati?
For starters, I don't think I'd be such a fan of the urbanist lifestyle. I know, I know. That sounds kind of funny coming from a girl who lives in Downtown Cincinnati. It's not like this is Portland or Austin or other cool places. The fact of the matter is, Cincinnati is far more accepting and better enables an urbanist lifestyle than Lexington.
I also don't know if I'd have the same interests I do now. Cincinnati's young professional scene is far more extensive and accommodates far more interests than Lexington's does. Being in the Queen City has allowed me to pursue some great leadership learning experiences that I'm uncertain would be equally matched in the Bluegrass.
The choices we make, the places we go and the people we meet - they all truly make a significant impact on the life we live.
It's fun to dream about the future, and how it's being impacted by the people and activities I'm focusing on today.
I have no idea what tomorrow holds, but I know I'm going to like it.
Kate's Random Musings by Kate the Great is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
1 comment:
I used to live in RI and personally miss the coast. I now have to settle for Landen Lake as 'water' :-)
I also used to live in Aventura, FL and while very cosmopolitan - like the more relaxed 'family friendly' atmosphere of Mason.
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