Blog #154: Fourth of July

I had such a lovely Fourth of July today!

Sofia invited Jolson and me to the Fourth celebration of Su Casa, the home she's living at this summer. After meeting the group we drove up to Wisconsin, and spent the day on the lake. It was so nice to just sit outside and enjoy the day with some great people.

Although Sofi was the only person we knew when we showed up, everyone was super welcoming and eager to get to know us. One of these persons was Zachary, a worker at Su Casa. Zachary was absolutely hilarious and major fun to be around, but he and I also had a couple of really nice conversations about being raised in a small town and finding your own home after that.

We both have reached a sort of crossroads where we don't fit into/don't agree with the lifestyle and opinions of rural communities, but also feel the need to be connected with nature, which is just plain difficult in a larger city. It kind of seems like there are two options- be isolated from a community you fit into, enjoy, and thrive off to be able to have easy access to nature all of the time, or be cut off from a direct source of nature to live in an area with more like-minded people.

Although it seems like this can't be the case, it's a fairly well known fact that cities tend to be more progressive, while rural areas are more conservative (and, of course, not just in terms of politics, but in terms of traditions, values, sexuality, religion, gender roles, etc.). This makes it difficult for a person like me to reconcile living in a rural area, because as much as I need a connection with nature, I also more strongly want to be surrounded by people who are accepting of me and others, and value the same things that I do.

So, where do we go?

That's the question Zachary and I couldn't quite find an answer to. The best we landed on was "surely there has to be something somewhere in the middle." We also said that, maybe if we were partnered, we'd be more comfortable moving to a more isolated area, knowing that we would always have at least that one person to support us. Still, these aren't great answers.

For me personally, I also know I wouldn't be happy long-term in the suburbs, because it's the worst of both worlds. Going "into the city" is a trip in itself (and takes about 1.5 hours if not more), and although there are a few nature trails around here, the benefits of really living a rural lifestyle out in nature are completely lost. I'm sure the same could be said about the suburbs of essentially any large city, and it's just something I know I wouldn't be happy with.

That really leaves me wondering where I should move one day, where I will be happiest, etc. I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and still haven't come up with much of an answer. Anyone have some ideas? I'm open to options.