Hello Internet!
I hope all of you had a wonderful week! My week was full of new experiences and a lot of learning as I get barraged with information for my new job. It was a lot of training and information being thrown at me all at once and, at times, it was overwhelming. It’s only the first week, so I know I still have a ton to learn and experience. I’m just trying to take it one day at a time. This week on the website, we had a pretty good week. Nothing special or flashy, but just a “meat and potatoes” kind of week. Last Sunday, I published a Weekly Blog Talking About My Heart Gold/Soul Silver Series. That was actually a really popular Weekly Blog, but if you haven’t read it, and you are wondering why there wasn’t a new chapter of my Pokémon Fanfiction Series yesterday, give that a read. It goes into details about the series so far and why I’m putting it on a hiatus. I know the next few months are going to be super crazy, so putting it to rest makes a lot of sense. I hope to get back to the series in the near future and I believe there is still a lot of Jonathan and Beatrice’s story to tell. It’s just time to give a bit of a break. On Wednesday, I published a Poem titled “Reaching For The Surface.” I’ll be honest. This Poem was done a little last minute, but I thought it turned out great and it had a great message. You can always overcome the circumstances you are stuck with and uh… life finds a way. On Friday, I published a continuation of my Dungeons and Dragons based series titled “Captain Lillian Evergreen Part 2 [D&D].” If you haven’t read Captain Lillian Evergreen [D&D] (Part 1), you definitely should. The quest to reach Xylon was a long one, but now they are in the Capital City and story lines are going to start taking off. This is focusing on Riffen and Lillian and its still unknown how their fates are going to end up.
On top of learning a new job, I also had a week where I was submerged in local gossip and small town politics. I don’t want to get into it, because honestly, it’s not that interesting, but basically people who’s great-great grandfather helped settle the land think they are entitled to things. If you’re from a small town, like I am, you know exactly what I’m talking about. These local issues usually boil down to people who have lived in the small town for generations see things one way while new people moving in might think things are different. Traditions get questioned, people freak out, and the outside world pays no attention. It’s entitlement about the dumbest things (IMO) and that’s what I really want to talk about. If you live in a big city, this Weekly Blog might not mean a thing to you, but if you live in a small town, I’m sure some of these things are really hitting home. You understand small town life and I’m here to tell you that you need to escape your home town whenever you get the chance.
Many of may or may not know that I am from a small town. Technically I live out in the country between a few different small towns. But I grew up in a very rural, very conservative bubble where the public school was as large as some city school’s graduating class. You graduated with over 500 kids in your graduating class? Well mine had less than 100. That’s not to brag or anything. That’s just to give you some perspective. Well in these small towns, rumors and information (true or false) really do spread like wildfire. Everyone knows each other and their family lineages, so any news is spread extremely fast. These small towns also create their own hierarchy based on last names and family ties. There are always people who had lived in the town since its founding which allows the families to grab onto any power they can through institutions like PTO, School Board, Coaches of Popular Sports, City Council, and/or Mayor. To the people deeply entrenched in the small town, keeping traditions alive and maintaining the status quo with these families on top become a big thing and any people moving in are seen as outsiders or others. That cycle of only caring about the same families and shunning others leads to bubbles that puts walls between old traditions and new ideas. This bubble also makes people living in it think that the small town is the most important thing going on even though I’d disagree fully.
I grew up in a small town, but my great-great grandparents did not settle the land. I have nearby family, but I grew up in a school district where I was one of these newbies moving in. I went to the same school since I was in kindergarten but even then, I didn’t really fit into the kids with the “right names.” That then lead to me wanting to escape small town life. I knew that there was a large world out there and I wanted (and still want) to see it. I am not one of those people who think that the small town and its drama is the center of the world. I don’t care if so-and-so is doing and who knows who and all of that. To me it just shows that people in small communities could come together and help each other out, but it usually becomes a popularity contest based on last names. You know how cliquey High School can be? Well small towns take that and keep running with it. They form their own cliques where the new kids can’t sit at your table at lunch…except these people are supposed to be adults. These overgrown high schoolers pass this state of mind onto their children and grandchildren and the cycle starts once again. It’s so draining just talk about it.
That’s why I advocate for escaping your small town and discovering the world out there. I’m not saying that you can’t return to it if you want. Some people like small towns and really thrive in them. However, I think it is better for people to go out and explore as much world as possible. Talk to people with wildly different backstories than you. Diversify your life and get to know people who don’t look like you, people who don’t think like you, people who didn’t grow up in the same area as you, and people who have a different story to tell. That will make you a better person and a more rounded person. When you have the knowledge and self-awareness to step back from small town life and recognize the tribe mentality and pettiness that is going on, it will do a lot to put things in perspective. I know that being on the outside looking in and it’s easy to just fall back on familiarity and these connections that are already entrenched within you, but this way of thinking can lead to stagnancy. You need new ideas and a new way of thinking to keep things fresh. You need to leave the bubble you know to realize, “Hey, maybe that isn’t the only way. Maybe there is a better way.” Again, for me, a lot of small town disagreements or problems are really based on stupid high school grudges or pettiness and it doesn’t really mean much. The world is so big and there is so much going on out there, that small town life can really seem like a speck compared to a mountain. Just go out and experience other cultures and other people. It will do wonders. Then you can decide to go back to living in the small town or choose a new path. If you are currently living in a small town and you feel like you don’t fit in, don’t fret. There’s a big world out there and I know there’s a spot far away from that small town where you will be a perfect fit.
Thank you for reading that Weekly Blog. I hope I didn’t make too many people mad by sharing my experience of small towns. Again, small towns are great for some people and not great for others. This is just my personal opinion. Also if listing general things about small towns, made you mad, it might be time for some introspection. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that Weekly Blog. If you did, feel free to give it a like. You can also leave a comment down below if you’d like. Go ahead and tell me if you are from a small town and the pros and cons of the town you lived in. What did you like about it and what did you hate about it? If you didn’t like this Weekly Blog or small towns aren’t something you can relate to, that’s ok. There are over 390 other published pieces you can read on the website which you might like better. I can’t guarantee it, but I think if you spend a little bit checking out the website, you should find something you’d enjoy reading!
Thank you for all the support and I hope you have a fantastic week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to Huffington Post
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coming-home-to-small-town-usa_n_4419581
Allen The Writer 