As we enter into the New Year one of the themes I want to communicate and live towards involves the concept that the feeling of escape can be accomplished much more easily then we realize.
Often we are under the impression that a break from the stress of our daily lives or escape from monotony needs to come from an elaborate, expensive, or long duration vacation and so we travel far and wide to embody the concepts of freedom and to explore the unknown, in an effort to find a place that feels “less than familiar.” Do we ever stop to consider how accessible these feelings and experiences are?
As I write this I am sitting in one of many places where I have found the same feelings of freedom “mental transportation” that I have encountered on trips far and wide. Perhaps those feelings are not as intense as the mountain top experiences in the Swiss Alps, perhaps these feelings don’t feel as intense as the “unknown” when I was recently driving through the desert to Santa Fe, New Mexico, but they exist with me here and now. It is even possible that because this place represents somewhere largely unknown to me (and is a place where I am largely unknown) that a sense of freedom exists that is reminiscent to other experiences that I have had. The ability of this place to inspire such feelings creates a sense of belonging for me, and I find myself feeling favorable towards my surroundings.
Today this place is the quaint charming (and somewhat forgotten) historic village of Scottsville in the town of Wheatland, NY located only 15 miles from where I live in the City of Rochester. Often we ignore what is directly around us and I truly believe that we suffer because of it, we miss the ability to make our “escapes” accessible and so instead we feel frustrated that our desired freedoms feel so far and difficult to accomplish. Forgotten places suffer as well, because we fail to realize that our interest and engagement of them has dramatic effects. Will anyone remember me in Santa Fe? I highly doubt that, but I find myself believing in a place like this that I will be remembered.
This small ignored town has become very meaningful to me and because of that I desire to tell others that this is an experience worth having and a place worth visiting.
Travel to somewhere forgotten and you may just realize that you can find part of yourself in that process.
It’s never as far as you think or as difficult.
When you go:
Visit the Artisan Coffeehouse to feel the pulse of the community and to see if you too can find that sense of belonging.
Visit the Free Library to be inspired by the past while you can sit and write about your future.
Links:
Artisan Coffeehouse
http://www.artisancoffeehouse.com/
Scottsville Free Library
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottsville_Free_Library
The Village of Scottsville
The Village of Scottsville on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Village-of-Scottsville-NY/337398322352
Slow Roads & The Story of place 