It has recently become apparent to me the overwhelming urge I have to move out of North Dakota- the place I live but struggle to call "home." Looking around me, I see the same scene that generations and generations of North Dakotans have seen. There is little innovation in cities, flat farming fields, and a lack of buildings higher than 18 stories (the capital building). There is also the same "fun" activities, involving drinking, movies, and sitting around with friends; the same friends people have had since middle school. Even when I change my daily routine throughout the years, the variations are less than spectacular and it’s beginning to drain all motivation I once had.
It seems as though half of my generation is in the partying stage, where they black out every weekend, and the other half have settled down and have kids; meanwhile, I’m sitting somewhere in the middle, feeling as though I have yet to live life to the fullest. Many people have said, “well, why don’t you try something new, or hangout with a new group of friends?” But really, even if I had all the friends in the world, what exciting activities are there to do, especially when 9 months of the season are spent indoors avoiding freezing temperatures? Sure, once in a while North Dakota has outstanding sunsets and decent landscapes, but it simply cannot fill the empty feeling I have living here. I have become immune to the fact that my life, and so many other inhabitants, are restricted to variation and originality by living in this state.
The issue is, I know nothing about other places, because I have been so constrained to this frozen wasteland, making it difficult to just pick a new location to live. I know a lot of my peers have also struggled with this and choose to randomly move out of the state. This produces a culture shock and they end up returning back to North Dakota in less than a years time, which is so counterproductive. I want to know exactly where I am going and feel a sense of pride in the state I live. I’m done waiting to make the decision to move, I’m done waiting to feel anything less than pure happiness in my life.
I have come to the conclusion that people who thoroughly enjoy living here are those who are content with a limited amount of change. They accept the life they live and basically turn on autopilot, coasting through their same daily routines with the same people they’ve known their entire lives. There’s nothing wrong with that if the person is indeed content with their life, but free-spirited people, like myself, thrive on new experiences and seeing all this world has to offer. Traveling to different states recently has shown me that there really is so much this world has to offer outside of what a person is familiar with. I want to be able to climb a mountain, or lay on a beach, or go for a nature walk, or snowboard, or meet people with varying cultures, or see artwork, or go to a free concert or a play, or see something I’ve never seen before.. It feels almost impossible to expand my mind while living in a state like North Dakota, and I simply cannot wait to leave.
