Day 22: Outside the Box

Today the Broads want to know “If someone made a board game of your life, what would it look like? What pieces would you need to play?”

This topic confused me. OK, confused is not the right word….this topic made my brain want to implode. I read a lot of the Broads’ entries, I reflected on this for a long time and eventually I’ve come to realize this:

My life would not be made into a board game.

I’m OK with this. And, no, I’m not trying to cop out on the topic. It’s really true–my life would never be a board game. And here’s why: My life is too random and fabulous and lovely to be boxed in and one dimensionalized.

Instead, here are the tools needed in order to live life the KP way:

• A sense of whimsy and wonder. View the world as if everything (or most things at least) are magical.
• A big sense of humor. Life is more enjoyable when you laugh.
• A wicked sense of adventure. Be up for anything. Say yes far more often than you say no.
• Passion. Great things (and fun things) are only accomplished with passion. A zest for life is necessary.
• The ability to use your voice. Speak up for yourself; stand up for your needs and what you believe in. Otherwise things may not be as enjoyable or positive as they could be.
• Nearly no shame. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Don’t let the fear of being embarrassed stop you from trying something new.
• Fear. Acknowledge that things may not go how you want them to go. Then take a deep breath, jump in and do the best you can. Fear is a sign that you’re on the right path…or so I’ve heard.
• The ability to reflect. Learn to make meaning from your experiences. Life is much richer and deeper that way.
• A love of learning. It goes hand in hand with the reflection piece.
• Good friends and/or a strong partner. Because life is more fun when you’re sharing a joke, glass of wine or experience together. (They, also, should have many of the items on this list.)

I’m not saying I have everything figured out. On the contrary, I feel as though I fly by the seat of my pants, hyperventilate, reevaluate and reflect on a regular basis. But I also feel like I’m in a very positive place in my life and I’m excited to see where my journey (or game!) takes me.

The Reason

Friend: I know somebody who is proud of the fact that he hasn’t crossed the bridge more than five times in his life.
Me: You mean the Mackinac Bridge? (The famous five-mile bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.)
Friend: Oh my God, no. I mean the Houghton-Hancock bridge in the Keweenaw.

I nearly threw up in my mouth a little as I had this conversation with a dear friend over this past weekend. For some the UP can be considered fairly big. It’s pretty spacious and it takes forever to get from one town to another because of one-lane highways and the massive forests everywhere. Some people can live their whole lives without going over the Mackinac Bridge and seeing the “other part” of the state. Hell, my mom didn’t drive on freeways until she was forced to do so in order to come and visit me in Minnesota. So yes, you can isolate yourself fairly easily living in Michigan’s UP.

What is nearly incomprehensible to me is a person who has barely left the Keweenaw Peninsula, a tiny area of the UP where there are a few tiny mining towns, a couple of parks and a whole lot of biggotry. I grew up in the area and even during my semi-angsty teen years I had enough self-awareness to recognize that the narrow-mindedness of the area was suffocating me. I had to get out, even if it was only to a bigger UP town at first. There was no way that I could live in an area where God and Guns is considered the only way of life and where most people think that a high school diploma is a sufficient education and women need to be baby factories. I looked at the world differently. I asked questions. I didn’t want to settle; I wanted more than what the area could offer.  Some people didn’t like that.

People like Mr. Nothing-But-the-Keweenaw make me sad. If someone wants to make a life in the area, that’s great. Go find your bliss. But if you’re choosing to not experience more of the world because of some small-minded ideas you may have, then I feel sorry for you. The world has so much to offer, so to isolate or confine yourself to a small corner of it is nearly incomprehensible to me. I want to experience all that life has to offer. I want to kiss under the Eiffle Tower, road trip across Route 66, dance in the streets during Carnivale and indulge in plates of pasta in Italy. I want to experience the world. I want more than a small-town life can offer me. I need to experience life as fully as I possibly can. That is the reason why I needed to leave Michigan. That is the reason why I am who I am and why I am on this journey we all call life.