Growing up in the middle of Nowhere, TX, I learned a few life lessons:
- Make sure your boots fit properly before trying to dance in them.
- Fill up your car before driving to a big city.
- There’s more to life outside of your town, no matter how hard people there try to convince you otherwise.
Obviously not everybody grew up in the glitz and glamour of a town that supports cheap beer and big hair. But everybody started somewhere. Can you fake where you are from? Sure. Should you? Eh. Depends. But what you should do is move away, at least for a short while.
I moved from a town with a population of approximately 4,000 residents to my college town, which was not extremely large, but still way bigger than my hometown. Now I just moved to New York City, and I am pretty sure I’m one of the only people from that small town to ever move to a city this large. And this is certainly the biggest eye-opener I have ever experienced.
Walking and taking the subway rather than driving has been an enormous change for me. On the bright side, I have lost some extra fat from all of the extra steps I’ve been taking. My new apartment is literally half the size of where I was living before this. I never realized just how spoiled I was before this and have come to appreciate the smaller things in life like apartment size. And the clothing! OH! The clothing is SO different from everything I’ve ever known. I stocked up my wardrobe with designer labels before moving; assuming that’s what everyone would be wearing. Boy was I wrong. Nobody here gives a shit what they wear. They literally wear what they want, when they want, and completely disregard everything else taught in fashion school. And I respect it completely. New Yorkers know whom they are and aren’t scared to show it, which is one lesson I would have never accepted had I never moved away.
Am I recommending that everybody move to a big city? Most definitely not. But I am suggesting that everyone gets a new perspective on life by moving to a town with a culture they are unfamiliar with. Whether that is going to a big city, small town, or whole different country, you NEED to switch. it. up. Stop your boring cookie cutter routine and get out of your comfort zone. I get that a lot of people like the comfort of knowing what is next and living the life they have always known. But if you don’t move on with your life, you are only experiencing basically .0001% of what you are offered in this beautiful world.
So here’s to all of the new adventures your future holds when you get off your ass and into a U-Haul!
