City or Farm Gal? Maybe I am neither!

There's a five-year waiting list to get a plot in this community garden in the South End

Not too long ago I would picture myself living a simple life in a rural part of the U.S. of A.; I'd slowly drink coffee in the backyard, and observe the natural beauty that would surely surround me. Not too far away I'd see the line where my clothes would be drying. Then I would sometimes picture myself in some small room in some large city. However, neither of these scenarios were perfect: I thought that I'd feel lost in the masses of the city, alienated by the waves of movement, a robin overtaken by eagles. In the countryside, I imagined feeling connected to nature, empowered by the beauty of the unspoiled nature, yet somehow alone, disconnected from the fiery magic of many minds colliding in the hopes of feeling alive.

Recently I've stopped wondering where I'll end up. I still dream sometimes: maybe after college I'll find myself in a small Colombian village, or in the lush hills of Ireland, or even in some new city here in the United States. Maybe I'll have a new room to decorate from the ground up, or maybe I'll wander around Mexico with no plan (and maybe even without a cell phone!).

However, I have realized that cities are not as scary as I once had imagined. This epiphany first occurred when I came back from Buenos Aires: I had had a fabulous time, and I rarely felt alone. Then, walking through Boston during the past few weeks, I have sprung upon huge urban renewal projects, beautiful parks and gardens that stand for the same things I do: fresh air, play, expression, connection with nature and each other, exercise, and beauty.

Some special person must have taken it upon him/herself to tie these pretty flowers onto the bike rack

I had to leave in the middle of this post to make a DJ'ed Hot Power Yoga class in Cambridge. I don't think I could have found 25 eager attendees to bend their bodies in 95˚F+ from 9:00-10:30PM on a Friday night if I were in Athol, Massachusetts! Now that I'm started, I could go on and on analyzing the pluses and minuses of any type of living situation, which just goes to show that sometimes you just gotta ride your life's wave and accept that you may end up in Round Top, Texas, and be happy as a puppy chasing a United States Postal Service worker. Dreaming is wonderful and working diligently towards goals is even better, yet nothing feels better than living a life without definition and invisible lines that limit our once in forever journeys.