Authenticity and the Power of Place, Revisited...

When I was about 7-10 years old, we spent several multi-month periods living in France, right across the border from French Switzerland near Geneva and Lake Geneva, around Gex and Ferney-Voltaire.

It was the first time I can remember feeling like roots were growing out of the bottom of my feet and giving me the sensation that I could grow here.

I loved the sun reflecting off the lake waters, and the snow covered mountains all around us… something felt right about it.

At the time, I was too young to pay sufficient attention to what I was experiencing, but that didn't stop me from feeling something I didn't feel in other physical spaces.

Such can be the Power of Place, and it doesn’t necessarily make sense in any way regular science can readily explain.

I have seen many beautiful places around the world, and around the USA, and few have ”communicated” with my soul; with my very DNA the way that location has.

I’m blessed to live in another place that speaks to my roots in a similar way… these places seem very rare and far between — Queenstown, New Zealand seems like another… even though I have never actually been there, but it is on my bucket list of places to visit. Whether I ever will remains to be seen.

Which brings me to the whole issue of paying attention and the extent to which we are truly mindful, not only of our surroundings, but also of what is happening to us on the inside.

I could be happy here…

There’s an old truism — usually related to success and to getting on with life without dwelling excessively in the details: ”Bloom where you’re planted.”

If you’re a gardener and have ever tried to grow delicate or particular plants, you’ll know that this particular truism doesn’t hold, universally. It holds in many cases, and it holds if you’re satisfied with fitting within a broad generalization.

I suppose that has long been one of my challenges in life… I am typically not satisfied with the ”broad generalization” paradigm.

Don’t get me wrong… I understand its practicality because there could be no such thing as ”advice columns” if we didn’t offer up answers that could be applied ”somewhat” and ”most of the time.”

Which circles back to yesterday's post about staying authentic, and how genuine authenticity doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with being "optimized" for living in our world.

What do we choose? And do we choose that one thing; that one place; that one person; that one job that will represent the perfect puzzle piece in our lives... even if doing so is somewhat — or even wildly — impractical?

To what degree do we allow our idealism to rule our decision making?

The invitation is to examine what it is that truly matters to us. Love? Money? Power? Inner peace? Success? And in what combination? What "price" will you pay to have one thing, rather than another?

Perhaps it is non-optimal to place a high value on whether or not you feel like you "belong" to a place. However, experience has told me that the rest of your life is positively colored by being able to wake up in the morning and always feeling like you are exactly where you are supposed to be!

Trust me on that one. I lived for more than 20 years in locations I couldn't wait to get away from... and that can make the rest of your life feel like it really sucks!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about you? Have you ever considered and explored the Power of Place? Do you now live in a place that feels like you're "supposed to be there?" Does such a thing matter to you? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.07.31 00:38 PDT
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