When I was a senior in high school, I knew that I wanted to go out of state for college. I always wanted to try out something new and see what was outside the borders of Montana. I knew that there was more in the world, and having grown up in a state that embodies adventure, I had a need to go further and see what else was out there.
Having left the state where I was born and raised, I have realized how blessed I am to have grown up in Montana. There are four key values that I attribute to growing up with a Montana State of Mind.
Appreciation for the outdoors
Living in a city after having spent 18 years growing up in the Big Sky state, I have learned the difference between the great outdoors and green space. Whereas the city I moved to has great parks and ways to get outside, I have found it remarkably hard to find a place here that is as peaceful as a peak or dirt road in Montana. In a city, there is always noise and there is always artificial light. In Montana, you can disconnect, lose cell service and just be in the present without all of the distractions that a big city creates. Not to mention, it is impossible to be standing on the face of a mountain watching a grizzly bear chase a mule deer and not be in complete awe of the natural world.
Simplicity
I love walking down city streets and seeing the outfits people put together. It is absolutely amazing to me the combinations people come up with and they look positively fierce. While I celebrate this showing of individuality, sometimes there is just a little too much, flaunted excess in the cities. It was my senior year in high school when my favorite teacher told us to “Live simply so that others can simply live.” Growing up in Montana, what you wore and the possessions you owned were not emphasized. What you could afford did not matter as much as how you treated others. Friendships were not formed in shopping malls or at night clubs but came together over coffee, on night hikes and down dusty roads where you forgot the combination of turns you took to reach your destination.
Kindness and Community
Many people hear that I’m from Montana and assume that I grew up in a town of fewer than 5,000 people because of the way I talk about the closeness of my hometown. In reality, I grew up in a town of about 30,000 people, but it is the kind of place where kindness and community involvement is a must. At the Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings, you are bound to run into someone you know, and a real treasure is running into someone who you haven’t talked to in years but you still stop on the street and share stories and good wishes. At the local ski hill, you can strike up a conversation with a fellow skier or snowboarder and swap trail reports at your shared table in the lodge. Take a stroll down the walking mall or in the surrounding trail system and I guarantee you will be met with a smile and an acknowledgment from anyone you pass.
A Sense of Freedom
Maybe it’s the big open sky, the sheer vastness of the land or the fact that we love our rights, but Montanans have an incredible sense of freedom in action and thought. Growing up in Montana, I never felt limited to a certain way of life. Any expectations placed on me were my own, and I could change course at any time. The entire state was my playground growing up and from that, I gained so much empowerment and confidence in exploring new places, trying new things and seeking beauty everywhere I looked. The spirit of Montana is wild and free and I will carry the imprint of it wherever I go.
