Middle America

Back from Middle America, NH to be exact. Sometimes I forget how comforting it can be out in the country, regardless of specific location. Actually, visiting NC (twice) did much to give me strong impressions of the lifestyle there. It's very quiet, conservative - if you're born there you're victim to the ethos of your family and church - and offers some small measure of piece.

Small to medium-sized towns and rural neighborhoods make me realize how simple life can be. It may even be simpler than HI. Of course, I also realize how Corporate America can completely screw it up - the zoning in any given town may be as follows: House Church Fast Food Church House House Fast Food Church WAL-MART. The genius of a successful town is the small businesses and the community's way of conducting themselves. The mom n' pop shops - they usually offer the town some sort of unique identity and familiarity. They cater to the passerby tourists and ease into a kind of kinship with their neighbor-customers. When the MNPS get taken out by WAL-MART or a Target, that kills everything - the culture, the identity, and the spirit. A town, if victim to corporate takeover, becomes a commercialized splash of grey that becomes merely a statistic to the state. And often enough, Corporate America also destroys the unity of the town by doing so, or at least in my opinion.

I've come to the conclusion that the greater the diversity, the more options there are to living life. Of course, the simpleness of rural country - away from the big city - can be wonderful. It just has to be right. I think of Asheville, NC. But conversely, I think of some random town I went through that felt soulless. It was one of the saddest things in the world to see: the suppression of community and the collective human spirit.

But where was I? Ah yes, back from NH. The people there have their own unique identity to them. The same goes for them Carolinians, Kentuckians, Virginians, etc. It felt wonderful to see a series of people that had this edge to them, as well as a kind of humility that said: 'we may be who we are, but we sure are proud to be and live where we live.' And then I wonder if I could ever live a simple life in Middle America, away from the hullabaloo, ado, and rat race. I need a place where my mind's speed matches the city's pace. All of us do, I think.