Back in the STL!

February 5, 2011

I have survived my first week back in St. Louis, and I am happy to say that I'm still in one piece!  Haha!  I have come to the realization of how much I have changed since my last bout here.  I never thought it would feel weird to come back to the city with everything you could possibly need or want sitting right there at your fingertips only a couple of miles away.  Maybe I acclimated to Kansas more than I had perceived.  The pace of the city seems much faster than last time after being in the turtle pace of Kansas life.  Cars seem to drive faster and ride your a** more.  People still pull the ever-present "not letting people merge onto the highway" stunt.  In the grocery store, people run into me with their carts because apparently shopping at warp speed is the new norm!  I used to be just like all of these folks, and now I am "the slow one!"

But the question is, have I actually slowed my pace down, or have I just learned over the past few years how to take the time to think?  In Kansas I became accustomed to learning how to appreciate things and see things for how they really are.  When you take all the "stuff" of the city away, it's amazing how clearly you can see things, and yourself, through the looking glass.  People here are consumed by the things around them.  Their identity has wrapped itself around their beautiful cars, fancy restaurants, night clubs, and stellar homes.  Who are you when you take away all of those things?  I don't think many people have a clue.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall and be able to watch some of these people hack it out in the sticks of Kansas where all you have are your family, your cup of coffee, and your front porch to reflect on.  Not to mention an endless amount of cows to talk to and tip!  In a land like Kansas, where status means absolutely nothing, St. Louisans would have a nervous breakdown.  Their cell phones would drop calls, their laptops would be slow, and they would be forced to (God forbid) TALK to people face to face!  Meanwhile crying into their Starbucks coffee mugs, like I did, and reflecting on how good they really have it in the city.  :)

That's the thing about Kansas...It teaches you how spoiled you really have become.  Thanks to my time in Kansas I've learned to appreciate what I DO have, and that I can still be a happy person without the things I don't.  It's not what you have that matters, it's what you choose to do with the life you have.