Flashback lots and lots of years ago:
I’m sitting on a balcony of my apartment building looking at the mountains with my friend Kurt who is visiting me in Asheville. In only three days, I’m supposed to head back to Northern Virginia – as my three month visit to the mountains of North Carolina has come to an end.
I sigh very heavy and very deep.
After one of those long pauses that only the best of friends allow in their conversations, I say to Kurt, “I don’t want to go back.”
Without batting an eye, Kurt says matter-of-fact, “So don’t.”
It’s a simple statement. A simple moment. But it changes the course of my whole life.
You mean I have a choice?
That’s all I could think inside my head. A choice?
You mean, I could actually live somewhere I LOVE? You mean I don’t have to listen to the criticism in my head telling me I’m throwing my life away if I don’t have a “serious” city job? You mean I can actually HAVE THIS?
Sometimes it’s just So. Freakin’. Simple.
And the answer is almost always: Yes, you do. And yes, you can.
—Christine Kane, You Mean I Have A Choice?
