Highway or back street?
I was driving on the FL interstate I4 the other day, as I so often do, and I was struck by the monotony of sights - large corporate buildings and/or factories, one story and with no redeeming architectural qualities; mobile homes backed up almost to the highway, always with numerous broken down cars and sheds surrounding an elongated tin can of a home; rest stops, always with a McDonald's, the same five gas stations, and a Cracker Barrel.
The best attraction along this road is where the countryside is allowed to open up, and cows lazily graze amongst the Florida scrub land. This a welcome retreat from the otherwise uninspiring views.
To anyone who comes to visit Florida, particularly tourists who come just for Disney World and never venture anywhere else, this must seem like such a fabricated place to live.
But I know otherwise. Because I've lived in Florida for so long, I've seen the old Florida - the small towns along the coast with quaint main streets and little harbors; the awesome beauty of Cape Canaveral Seashore, where one can literally feel completely taken away from civilization; the gorgeous Coral Gables with its Cuban-inspired architecture and oak-lined canopy. This is the real Florida.
Florida is just an example of how we so often keep to these "highways" in our life with the intention of getting us to places faster. We could even argue they get us further, but then we'd have to explain that at the end of our long day's journey is another highway just like the one we've driven. Progress? Questionable.
If we are constantly traveling these highways (and from experience, they look very similar from state to state, save some hills in certain parts of the country), what exactly are we experiencing, or feeling? What are we getting out of this journey?
Whenever I pull off a highway and onto the lesser roads, and then onto even smaller roads, there's usually some odd things to see. I've run across quirky old crafts shops, historical grounds for a religious community now extinct; a beautiful park tucked away, teeming with wild turkeys.
All these things to see off the highway seem ultimately more interesting and fulfilling than the highway itself.
The initial step to get off the highway and explore can sometimes be scary. It's a risk. You aren't guaranteed to see anything of any interest.
But we have no idea what might inspire us, or add to the quality of our life, unless we explore. If we just stay on that highway, we are merely on one path. If we take the time to find something new, it may pleasantly surprise us. Even astound us.
It's easy to travel and take only the highways and dismiss a place as "uninteresting". But it is not the place that is limiting. We are limiting ourselves. We can make the choice to go that extra mile and experience something new. At the end, I think it will be worth it.
The best attraction along this road is where the countryside is allowed to open up, and cows lazily graze amongst the Florida scrub land. This a welcome retreat from the otherwise uninspiring views.
To anyone who comes to visit Florida, particularly tourists who come just for Disney World and never venture anywhere else, this must seem like such a fabricated place to live.
But I know otherwise. Because I've lived in Florida for so long, I've seen the old Florida - the small towns along the coast with quaint main streets and little harbors; the awesome beauty of Cape Canaveral Seashore, where one can literally feel completely taken away from civilization; the gorgeous Coral Gables with its Cuban-inspired architecture and oak-lined canopy. This is the real Florida.
Florida is just an example of how we so often keep to these "highways" in our life with the intention of getting us to places faster. We could even argue they get us further, but then we'd have to explain that at the end of our long day's journey is another highway just like the one we've driven. Progress? Questionable.
If we are constantly traveling these highways (and from experience, they look very similar from state to state, save some hills in certain parts of the country), what exactly are we experiencing, or feeling? What are we getting out of this journey?
Whenever I pull off a highway and onto the lesser roads, and then onto even smaller roads, there's usually some odd things to see. I've run across quirky old crafts shops, historical grounds for a religious community now extinct; a beautiful park tucked away, teeming with wild turkeys.
All these things to see off the highway seem ultimately more interesting and fulfilling than the highway itself.
The initial step to get off the highway and explore can sometimes be scary. It's a risk. You aren't guaranteed to see anything of any interest.
But we have no idea what might inspire us, or add to the quality of our life, unless we explore. If we just stay on that highway, we are merely on one path. If we take the time to find something new, it may pleasantly surprise us. Even astound us.
It's easy to travel and take only the highways and dismiss a place as "uninteresting". But it is not the place that is limiting. We are limiting ourselves. We can make the choice to go that extra mile and experience something new. At the end, I think it will be worth it.
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