Podunk.

Creativity.

I hear many friends talking about it. Several of my friends thrive on it and rely on it to get them through the day. For a smaller group of them, they rely on it for a meal ticket.

It is becoming something that I also feel I need to rely on. That I must do the opposite of stagnate. Living in a town such as Montrose, it admittedly becomes a burden. Small towns are life suckers for some people.

And I have no idea why.

I think that certain people may need to leave their small town. I'm just simply pointing out a truth about living in this town. But there are some of those that I graduated from high school with that live here and live happy lives. The majority of them live happier lives than those that have left.

Or at least they are more at peace with their choice to stay.

I have friends that have an allergic psychological reaction when they come here. They freak out and start talking about buying things and leaving the minute they arrive. They feel a certain presence. As if their arrival here signals some sort of change in the atmosphere and they began to feel the need to turn their car around and leave for fear of their life.

This may be a perfectly natural reaction to a life that is carried out in a big city. Big city dwellers often feel like 'there is nothing to do in this town'. It lacks cultural stimulation. I have heard people say this town has no identity. It's a nice place to pass through.

But I propose, it is hardly the above listed things.

This town is a place where life happens. It may not be packaged in a way that is typical, normal or neat, but it is alive. This town is growing and the people that don't like it are the ones that are helping to make it. Families thrive here. The future of our country may rest on the shoulders of those who are discovering the universe in a small town in Southwestern Colorado.

There are no insignificant people. To say that would be selling ourselves and others short.

Adieu.