Okay, so maybe I’m not moving to Boulder. After all, I’m generally broke, and I doubt that the city has pressing Flow Cytometry needs for which the feel the need to pay me large piles of cash. I also checked the local government’s page, and they don’t seem to have “Webcartoonist in Residence” as one of the paying positions, so I reckon a move to Boulder is out.
However, I’ve been thinking lately that I, and a great many of us, are misusing life. It seems to me that life should always feel like a celebration. The places where we live should encourage that. When we’re at work, we should be amongst people that are excited about where they live and what they are doing. A walk on the streets should feel like a festival, and the parks should feel inviting…beckoning. A few cities seem to have hit on the formula that promotes this way of thinking…Boulder and Ashland spring to mind immediately. So many places we choose to live are perfectly functional…even pretty, but they don’t inspire us. They don’t aspire to a state of joy.
Of course, one’s location can only take one so far. Joy, celebration, and a lust for life all come from within. They can only be enhanced from without. So what does it take to remember the magic in life? To turn on outdoor table into a sidewalk cafe? It’s hard to say.
Perhaps this is all just pent-up frustration from being stuck indoors all winter. Perhaps the first step is to play outside more. It’s certainly easier to find the life in a community if, you know, you’re actually spending time in the community. I can’t say that I’ve worked out an answer to these questions, but I can say there are times when I feel the call of the open road. When if I had the money to take care of everything holding me here, I’d happily settle for less to live more.
Thoughts?
I hear you man.
I’m a Wisconsin Native, who moved to Missouri for School, got married, and got stuck there. After nearly 10 years of mind boggling suckiness, My wife and I finally moved out of there. We crossed several states and drove nearly 2000 miles before finally arriving in Reno, NV. We knew one person to start. We had no jobs lined up, we were broke and had no prospects. Best thing we’ve ever done. Jobs were easy to find. The area, in our eyes, was a veritable paradise compared to central Missouri. Once we got out here, it was as though all of the stress that was hanging around just slowly started to dissolve. We could breathe and enjoy life, we found new pastimes and new people to enjoy old ones. Moving cannot solve all of lifes problems, but it does get rid of the problems that are caused by environment. If you’re city is getting you down, I highly reccomend moving.
Oh and by the way, I’m a huge fan of your comic.
It’s been…what…eight years since I’ve been to Reno. I love driving cross country, and when we were in California, we hop in a car when visiting folks in Indiana just so we could experience the country rather than squeeze into a plane.
It gets to be a bit harder to throw everything in the car and just go when you have a kid in high school, but it’s not out of the question.
Thanks for the kind words…the comic is fun to do…except when I’m suffering from writers block!
Nice, love the fact that you’ve got Billy and the Bangers playing at that venue . . . quality reference right there.
You’re the first person to notice the Bangers there! I intentionally cut off the name to see if anyone would pick up on it. Thanks for stopping by.