Memory Lane Construction Zone

Hi Friend, What a week! Michelle and I took a road-trip vacation that led us back to my hometown. They say you can't go back, but I took her on a nostalgic trip of homes, people, locations and experiences. She saw 6 of the 7 homes I lived in. She saw where Grant street elementary school sat, until Ashland University demolished it. (My dad & grandma attended that school, as well as me.)

We walked from one end of downtown to the other. We got a surprise tour inside my high school. We strolled Brookside Park. We visited with my aunt and cousins. We spent time with my step-mom. We visited a couple other folks I drop in on every time I'm back in town. We dined at the Ashland/Wooster Drive-In. We did all of that in a 24 hour time period.

Beyond the hometown, my lovely bride traipsed through the woods at Mohican State park, where I first fell in love with the outdoors. She met my older brother and his fam. She met two of my childhood friends who I've known for... gulp... 50 YEARS!

Not to mention we visited my son in Chicago, spent the day on Lake Erie's Kelleys Island & ended our adventure at Warren Dunes State park along the eastern coastline of Lake Michigan, where we baked on the beach.

We drove a total of about 1800 miles. My kind wife read a book out loud for hours and hours, making the miles pass more enjoyably. We ate local ice cream almost every day. We slept in a different bed every night.

MEMORIES

My friend Mitch summed me up quite accurately. He said I'm a "sentimental minimalist" which means I could live in a tent with a chair and be satisfied. That tent however would be filled with knick-knacks that each possessed a story I wanted to retain. I love good memories. I love physical objects, places and spaces that unlock them.

I wonder how accurate our memories are? So much of our identity is rooted in them. Who & how we are is shaped by the story we overlay on a past reality. It's rarely 100% accurate. Often it actually misinterprets and lacks critical information. Our distance from the memory, enables us to consider it differently. Or see something we hadn't before.

I'm a big fan of walking down memory lane especially with someone who has never been on it. The revisioning of reality releases a renewed relativity. It's like road construction.

MINDSHIFT

What if you invited someone into your past and let them poke around. Would their interpretation of your story(ies) line up with yours?

PROGRESS

Numerous times I said to my darling wife "this used to be...." when explaining a change that occurred. Whether a paint color, a name or an entire structure added or missing a lot has been altered since I left Ashland 35 years ago. The progression of progress leaves no room for sentiment. That's why we retain those snapshots in our soul.

What's humbling is that the way we experienced life as normal was a significant modification to those older. I'm flummoxed by that truth. Our point of reference is shaped within the first 10 years of our life and somehow we think because that's when life started for us, that's the starting point of reality. When actually our existence was another divine shift contributing to humanity's progress.

MINDSHIFT

What if you stepped back and took a larger view of your life in context of 100 years or even 1000 years? How would that effect your perspective and approach to living with purpose?

DIFFERENT

It's an interesting paradox. It seems like a lot of things have gotten better in my hometown. The downtown is vibrant. The high school has had an infusion of cash and development. The university is serving more students. Many of my old homes have been updated. And yet it's easy to point out what's gotten "worse" with many businesses and restaurants no longer around.

It's just different. We like what we know. We like what we're used to. We like things the same. Human nature clings to familiarity. That's what makes fresh eyes so valuable. The girl with the great smile who was with me, only saw the positive attributes because it was her first time. There was no contrast to what had been. Which not surprisingly gave me an appreciation for what is... now.

SHIFTING

I hope this week you are able to see change and differences in a positive light. Invite someone to stroll with you not just on what-was-lane, but what is and what you hope-to-be highway. #ShiftAway