First off, I’ve noticed that I often start these blogs by saying ‘first off’. I want to let you know that I’m going to continue to do that.
Secondly, I’d like to advise you to make a concerted effort to check out this blog next Wednesday, as I have several EARTH-SHATTERING announcements to make. This is all very exciting, and I promise not to be over-hyping anything.
Third, a disclaimer: for all of you that are sick of me always getting on a soap-box about the wonderful midwest (The Moines in particular), you might as well stop reading. This entry is an observation in favor of said territory.
Here it goes.
When I first announced that I was moving to Atlanta, plenty of people immediately honed in on the fact that I would be moving into Dixie territory. I might as well have announced that I was going to Birmingham or Jackson (no offense to either city). Nevermind the fact that most people living in Atlanta are natives of other, mostly northern, states. Nevermind the sizable market for the arts in this very democratic city. I was at first bothered by all of the northerners’ warnings about the southland.
However, there is definitely something different down here. I can’t quite put my finger on it quite yet, but I do feel like an outsider. Something about traveling down here feels a bit different than taking a trip to New York or Los Angeles. At any rate, I’d like to talk a bit about the perspective of most people I work with in the fine city of Des Moines, Iowa compared to what I have experienced here.
If you listen to even one minute of news a day, you know that the United States of America’s glass is half empty at best. We have no money, our kids are dumb, and the air tastes like smog. That’s what the message is from the media.
While I do not discount the facts that are reported every day, I do think that the way people respond to this information is completely up to them. While I was in Indianapolis, I noticed that people (outside of our beautiful bubble world of Butler University) were generally down on the state of things. People were looking backwards for fear of what the future was holding for them. In the brief time that I have spent in Atlanta, I’ve noticed this trend even more. People are NOT happy! Successful businesses aren’t hiring due to fear and worry, rich people aren’t throwing parties because they’re concerned for their grandchildren’s wealth, and people are prone to snap at anyone that gets in their way while walking down the street.
On the one hand, I don’t blame anyone for letting all of the news get to them. On the other, we still have the power to change ANYTHING we want about our current situation. As an individual you don’t, but the community can do anything.
I think that people in Des Moines (and the midwest in general) have that idea down pat. Downtown keeps growing, people are hiring, and new startups are bursting at the seams (see http://www.siliconprairienews.com/ ).
I have a lot of friends that are afraid to graduate into the real world. Well, here’s news for you from a real-life college dropout: It’s not THAT Bad! There ARE jobs out there and the world is still and exciting place to live in. You might have to live on ramen noodles a little more than you’d like, but people have dealt with a lot worse than that.
The city that I’m currently living in is a beautiful place, and I look forward to learning more about it throughout this year. I just miss a little of the everyday optimism that I was used to.
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wellman
Missing Optimism
Hello Everyone-
First off, I’ve noticed that I often start these blogs by saying ‘first off’. I want to let you know that I’m going to continue to do that.
Secondly, I’d like to advise you to make a concerted effort to check out this blog next Wednesday, as I have several EARTH-SHATTERING announcements to make. This is all very exciting, and I promise not to be over-hyping anything.
Third, a disclaimer: for all of you that are sick of me always getting on a soap-box about the wonderful midwest (The Moines in particular), you might as well stop reading. This entry is an observation in favor of said territory.
Here it goes.
When I first announced that I was moving to Atlanta, plenty of people immediately honed in on the fact that I would be moving into Dixie territory. I might as well have announced that I was going to Birmingham or Jackson (no offense to either city). Nevermind the fact that most people living in Atlanta are natives of other, mostly northern, states. Nevermind the sizable market for the arts in this very democratic city. I was at first bothered by all of the northerners’ warnings about the southland.
However, there is definitely something different down here. I can’t quite put my finger on it quite yet, but I do feel like an outsider. Something about traveling down here feels a bit different than taking a trip to New York or Los Angeles. At any rate, I’d like to talk a bit about the perspective of most people I work with in the fine city of Des Moines, Iowa compared to what I have experienced here.
If you listen to even one minute of news a day, you know that the United States of America’s glass is half empty at best. We have no money, our kids are dumb, and the air tastes like smog. That’s what the message is from the media.
While I do not discount the facts that are reported every day, I do think that the way people respond to this information is completely up to them. While I was in Indianapolis, I noticed that people (outside of our beautiful bubble world of Butler University) were generally down on the state of things. People were looking backwards for fear of what the future was holding for them. In the brief time that I have spent in Atlanta, I’ve noticed this trend even more. People are NOT happy! Successful businesses aren’t hiring due to fear and worry, rich people aren’t throwing parties because they’re concerned for their grandchildren’s wealth, and people are prone to snap at anyone that gets in their way while walking down the street.
On the one hand, I don’t blame anyone for letting all of the news get to them. On the other, we still have the power to change ANYTHING we want about our current situation. As an individual you don’t, but the community can do anything.
I think that people in Des Moines (and the midwest in general) have that idea down pat. Downtown keeps growing, people are hiring, and new startups are bursting at the seams (see http://www.siliconprairienews.com/ ).
I have a lot of friends that are afraid to graduate into the real world. Well, here’s news for you from a real-life college dropout: It’s not THAT Bad! There ARE jobs out there and the world is still and exciting place to live in. You might have to live on ramen noodles a little more than you’d like, but people have dealt with a lot worse than that.
The city that I’m currently living in is a beautiful place, and I look forward to learning more about it throughout this year. I just miss a little of the everyday optimism that I was used to.