Living in Orlando has taught me a couple of things about suburban living. Mainly that I hate it. The idle chit chat at the Target checkout, the sanitized life of the housewife/Soccer Mom/PTA Superstar, and the endless string of chain restaurants. It took a chance to slip out of the suburban hell I had been trapped in to realize how much I felt stifled by City Beautiful.
I don't mean to sound ungrateful or negative. My life here is good. I love my friends and job and scholastic life. The weather leaves something to be desired, but this is a chapter in my life that I've enjoyed for the time being. But as I traveled to two new cities and walked through the streets of Minneapolis and Philadelphia and traveled on trains, subways, and buses, I felt refreshed.
To me, being myself is something I have always believed in. In Suburban living, I have always felt like that needs to be squashed. If you're going to deviate from the norm in any way, you have to then take that stereotype and fit it to a T. In a city, you can be anything you want. And I don't want a city like New York City or Los Angeles, I love a city with a character, not a fantasy. Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago, Nashville, or Indianapolis feel much more my style. These five cities that I've visited in my life are places that as soon as I've stepped out on the street, I've held my head up high and marched ahead. I've dodged cars, ran across streets, hopped a train, eaten at local eateries, taken short cuts, and talked to people I've never met.
Life in cities like that makes me feel lighter, healthier, and more like myself. That's what I need.
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