Where you grew up shaped you. It doesn’t get to sign off on who you become.
STILLNESS
WHAT THIS MEANS
Both halves of this are true at once, which is the hard part. A place shapes your accent, your assumptions about what is normal, what you think is possible for somebody like you. Acknowledging that is not the same as granting it a vote on the rest of your life.
Write two short lists sometime this month: what your town gave you, and what it assumed about you. The first is worth keeping and is usually larger than you expect. The second is worth examining, since an unnamed assumption keeps making decisions for you.
A QUESTION TO SIT WITH
What did your hometown give you, and what does it not decide?
MORE IN SOLITUDE & SELF-KNOWLEDGE
- Eating lunch alone in your car on break isn’t sad. For some people it’s the only quiet hour they get all day.
- When someone says “you’ve changed,” take a quiet minute to ask yourself whether it was for the better.
- Quitting something you’ve truly outgrown isn’t failure. It’s admitting you know yourself better now.
Free, with nothing to buy inside it.