Thursday, February 29, 2024
We all have a vague notion of what seems to be significant, but I wonder about that. I’ve moved all around in my lifetime, and for what seemed like significant opportunities; but I don’t miss those things. I miss what I overlooked as insignificant.
When I moved to Baton Rouge in 2002, it was to attend LSU to start a doctorate – how significant! I moved there for what I thought to be a prestigious thing. While an academic doctorate seems significant, what I miss are the grand oak trees around the historic campus; the terrific, southern cuisine and hole-in-the-wall restaurants; hanging out with my best friend on Friday nights at the little airport where we kept our planes; and I miss gumbo and going down the bayou to see my grandparents.
When I moved to Virginia several years later, I moved there for a teaching job – a tenure-track academic job. How significant! But what I miss about Virginia are not necessarily my academic successes, but my friends, laughing with them at the silliest things. I miss my fireplace and my Cape Cod-style home. I miss the distinct seasons and a place downtown called “The Bakery,” which had the best baguettes you’ll ever eat.
I then moved to Florida for another significant job – a tenure track position at an even bigger institution in a larger city. How significant! I have since retired from that job and miss not too much about it. If I were to move from where I live now, I’d miss my friends, my back yard, riding my bicycle, the beach, my 1923 bungalow, my neighbors, and my claw-foot bathtub.
How interesting. What we think of as significant things fade into the background. Perhaps the everyday, “ordinary” things are more significant than I thought. Better start enjoying them now, before something more significant whisks me away.