Living in a Plastic Bubble... a Bubble in a Plastic World

The more I think about it, the more I think I'm not unique when I say I am a chronic over-thinker. The way I see it, getting out and experiencing life isn't the worst way to distract yourself. Other people immerse themselves in their jobs or remodeling their house or working out to keep their minds from consuming them... we all have our own way of making it through the unpleasantries of life.

My neurosis is that I love the world. I want to learn about the unknown. I want to see things that less then 5% of Americans will ever see. I want to experience uncomfortable situations so I can become a stronger person. I like that I've lived in the jungle of Mexico for 2 summers... survived on a baguette and $2 bottle of wine a day for 7 weeks while backpacking through Europe... toured around New Zealand for 4 months in a $300 car I bought from some stranger on the side of the road... Those are some of the things that have shaped who I am today.

My therapist will tell you that this is why I am single. That I don't stop long enough to actually meet anyone. That the people I do meet are not the ones who want to settle down, because they only want the adventure and the adrenaline rush... But you know what, I call bullshit on that. Why can't you have both? Why can't you meet someone WHILE you're out adventuring and then share your adventures with them? Think outside the box!

Damn, I'm rambling. Refocus -- there was a reason for this blog...

My original point for this was to talk about how through all my travels, I thought I was a very worldly person and that I had exposed myself to so many different cultures. But what I'm realizing is that, when I travel, the people I've met along the way all tended to be very much like me. Those with that adventurous side, who love to put themselves out there and step outside their comfort zone -- we all tend to migrate towards each other. Even though I travel and see the world, I seem to always meet the same people. Whether its the SCUBA divers from Denmark or the photographers from Puerto Vallarta or the musicians from Canada... they're all the same people who love the world around them and want nothing more than to get as much of it as possible before they're gone from it.

All this means is that my exposure to new views or conflicting opinions has been very limited. And when it has happened, I was always surrounded by my own people, who would back up MY views and let the other person know they were wrong. Its only been in the last few years that I have actually been able to have a real conversation with someone who doesn't agree with me and NOT get pissed off. This is what being a teacher and living in Arizona has showed me. To be open-minded to the views of those who I don't agree with. And to stay level headed when every ounce of my being wants to challenge every word coming out of their mouth. Granted, I don't always remember to keep my cool, but its getting better.

So, its time to get out of the bubble I have been living in for the past 31 years and realize that the rest of the United States does not operate like Portland, Oregon. How can I call myself open-minded if the only thing I've opened my mind to is views like my own?

"And it's a crazy mixed up world
Full of contradictions
And that's why it hurts so bad sometimes
But that's also why its fun

And I'm gonna love you like, I've got nothing to prove
Feeling good in the pocket
Like an old school… Groooooove

Living in a plastic bubble
A bubble in a plastic world
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Living in a plastic bubble
And it's good"

Plastic Bubble by ALO