The Cultural Concept and Messaging

In the days before Labor Day I revisited a small town in the North Coast and I couldn’t help but notice how similar my daily errands can be in both the city and countryside. However, I did notice some obvious differences. For instance, the town’s four shops are run by many of the same people and travel times between places are different. In the countryside you know your neighbors a lot better because travel into town can be especially difficult. This is part of the reason for why I bought a bike to get from one place to another. Riding 20 miles between towns for breakfast had quite an effect upon my cultural concept.

At the time I saw the trip as an opportunity to step back from a city life so full of opportunity and ask myself what really matters to me. This helped when I noticed what was missing when I needed it the most. I have so much more say in how a car passes me on a city street as opposed to the highway but the traffic in the country side is way better in general. While I was visiting Oregon to see friends and family, I came to discover that people—even strangers—were way better at recognizing and catering to my needs. I don’t think that this is the case as much in the city but the experience has helped me to recognize this type of phenomenon when I do see it.

I came home believing that the trip had helped me to separate what really mattered from the rest of my life. However, I think that it really only allowed me to see how my city life has already changed over the years. For instance, I had already begun to identify longer term trends in my life and how old friendships take on new roles. I believe that rather than augmenting my self concept the trip really only affected my outlook.  Moreover, I believe that I have begun to be more patient with those around me and have realized that my interactions with others describe a more general message which may only be understood over time.

In the meantime, I have found that it has been especially hard to get into the swing of things; with emails from potential employers and text messages from old friends. Leaving town for a week always leaves a person with a perfect storm of responsibilities. I constantly have to organize my messy room, get on track with appointments and line other things up and it all has to be done a day at a time. Finally, I feel like I am ready for the coming week. I only wish that had been the case when I got back from my Labor Day vacation two weeks ago.

I started writing this on 092212.

This is an occasional series chronicling my life. This Notebook Analysis series is meant to be contemporaneous piece developed as an agglomeration of my notebook pages. In each of these posts I used my notes to develop my recent thoughts.