quote:
Originally posted by Frustrated Mess:
[b]but I would never trade my lifestyle for yours. And that's not to be mean, but just to state a fact.[/b]
I don't take it as mean at all.
I grew up in a town of tree-lined streets, a community where everyone knew each other, where kids could freely play anywhere in town, day or night, and parents didn’t have to worry about them because [i]some[/i] adult in town would always know what the kids where up to, and local businesses relied on local consumers (and local consumers relied on the local businesses). It was a great place to grow up—but I couldn’t wait to get out of there and get to the anonymity of a large metro area and to a university with 40,000 students (where professors didn’t know my name from Adam). I loved it.
But, I can understand why people like the sense of connectedness with their local community and their neighbors. It provides a sense of belonging, place, and meaning.
Now, nearly 30 years later, I live in an inner-ring suburb of tree-lined streets (and some big box stores), in a very modest house, which is only a ten minute drive from my office in downtown St. Paul (in my hometown, people drove—and still, to this day, drive—more than twice that distance to the next town to work in the local window manufacturing plant).
I also revel in the time I spend at our lake home. It’s on a lake that is three miles outside of the small town where Ms. Sven grew up in. I know a lot of the people there; the merchants, the staff at the little art museum, at the historical museum, and at the local library. I like to hang out at the coffee shop or have breakfast at the Birchwood Cafй.
Most of my “stuff” is composed of music-related things and books. And, those are my only real important “things”.
And, I have a career that I like very, very much. One for which I’m perfectly suited. I get to learn something new every day, to talk and work with interesting, challenging, and intelligent people, and to try to solve complicated problems.
Most importantly, the love of my life is my best friend and there is nothing I like better than for her and I to hang out together, alone, for a long weekend up north.
So, I, too, like my life and I wouldn’t change places with anyone else. And—and I think this is important for happiness—I don’t envy anyone else.