Maybe you're not meant to live a quiet, country life.

Maybe you’re not meant to be living a quiet, country life.

Maybe you’re not meant for the vibey place with all the sceney coachy people.

Maybe you’re not meant for the super alternative town with the super alternative schools full of super green libs.

Sometimes what we think is ‘the dream’ is actually something we’ve absorbed from Instagram. We idealize and even idolize certain places and lifestyles because we’ve lumped ourselves into a category of ‘people like me do things like this’ or ‘people like me should want things like this.’

You get the Blundstones, plant the acreage, homeschool the kids… maybe it feels right and true, maybe it feels like you’re pretending.

You move to Bali, take photos in scandi cafes, fang it around on a scooter to endless ceremonies… maybe it feels right and true, maybe it feels like you’re pretending.

You live in the cool place where all the coachy people live, it’s a vibe, it’s a scene… maybe it feels right and true, maybe it feels like you’re pretending.

There is something that we can never, ever be reminded of enough— living for an image does not provide sustenance. Our ideas, our preferences, even sometimes our desires, aren’t always accurate. Sometimes they’re rooted in fantasy and confusion.

Many of us feel that it’s acreage or bust. But cities need ‘people like you’ too. Maybe you’re meant for a big ol’ city life in a fast paced global hub and you’re fighting it through gritted teeth, meanwhile secretly fantasizing over being able to get pad Thai delivered on Uber eats. Some people are meant to be amongst the people. Not all people are here to live in small towns, no matter how dreamy the idea.

When we stop idealizing and idolizing, we can be with what’s true. Beyond ‘what people like me should do’ and ‘where people like me should be’ and ‘what people like me should want’, there is God with the path.

Pk XX