What’s great about where you live
I was talking to someone the other day about what I like about Arizona, especially Phoenix. I like it here a lot but it's mostly because of the life Laura and I have built here. I already knew this but describing 'my' Arizona, and my affection for it I'm always reminded how little the specific city had to do with my present state of general happiness.
There are things I love about Arizona, things I couldn't enjoy in other parts of the world. Other places have their own desirable attributes. What I always seems to come back to is that this place, this piece of the world was where it happened for us. This was the place that conspired to allow this life to come to be. So the location is important, it is a fundamental part of our lives almost completely because of what we've done to make it so. It has very little to do with what the area offered to us.
Yet I am still left with a feeling of my life here having found me. I know that a series of specific decisions, some luck and a certain amount of compatibility with the locals combined to allow us to call this place home. I also know that had you asked me 15 years ago where I would be living, Phoenix Arizona would not have even entered my mind.
To me choosing a place to live was like getting in wonderful collision. An accident of preferences and opportunities. Will that happen to you here? I can't say. If my experience is any guide, you'll know pretty quick if you've found the right place to stand, and you'll likely be surprised at where you are when it does.
Will my friend move to Arizona? Should he? Will he be happy? Well "it worked for me" isn't really going to get the boxes in the back of the u-haul.
I have met a few folks in my life that visualize their lives and then set about to make this vision a reality. Very few folks have the ability, the luck and the patience to do that. Many who fail miss a large part of their life in the undertaking. I'm reminded of that great quote:
"Life is what happens when you are making other plans." - John Lennon
All I can say is, if you have my life you would enjoy living in Arizona as much as I do. You don't have my life though, and so all I can say with certainty is, it sure beats the hell out of living in Baghdad though I could be wrong. Baghdad looks like it was a pretty cool place to be this week.
