Something came over me this morning to write a blog post reflecting and describing my experiences over the last year. So here I am, in Oakland...
The end right?
Not even close.
Ever since I can remember, I always had one goal in mind: moving. My career goals changed, favorite cities varied, and interests waned. However, I always envisioned myself moving and starting completely over.
Why?
Small towns are wretched places for anyone that:
1) Is different in any way.
2) Has goals/dreams.
Fortunately for me, I fell into both of those categories. At age 10 I was definitely much more mature than nearly 90% of the inhabitants of my town. I won't attempt to explain anything, because I don't think anyone would really understand without experiencing it first hand but here's a quick summary.
1) Racism & Homophobia.
2) Religion.
3) Football & Hunting.
I simply didn't enjoy the people around me nor did I have any intention of fitting in. Just a few things off the top of my head that stand out...
- Two morons were suspended for engaging in a fist fight over who owned the better tractor.
- Someone who was 16 posted videos of them self on Youtube drinking and chewing tobacco.
- Many joined an abstinence panel, when a report was released a few weeks earlier proving abstinence training ineffective.
- Finally, my personal favorite... A church praised a restaurant because they volunteered to donate money after boycotting them a year earlier for supporting marriage equality. Complete hypocrisy.
Yes, these people were complete imbeciles, but that wasn't entirely why I left.
Aside from a few friends and teachers (who I still keep in touch with) everyone was discouraging, judgmental, discriminatory, and disgusting. Anyone would be utterly shocked by the lack of goals, motivation, and intelligence. Going to school was depressing. On top of all of this, I also had religion and conservative ideals shoved down my throat on a daily basis. I wanted to vomit.
So, I moved to Oakland.
The exact opposite of where I once lived. Enough said.
At this point, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my life or when I plan on doing it. However, I have no intention to move out of the San Francisco Bay Area anytime soon. This is and will forever be...home.
