I checked out of life for a few hours today. I curled up at a Starbucks with a caramel frappucino, a notebook, a pen, my trusty cell phone MP3 player, and headphones. That’s my way of exiting the world and getting personal space in the land of 1 billion people.
Until you got to the billion people part, you like me, would think this was a blog post from Any Small Town, USA. It is from an American woman living in China. Not only an American but a red headed one at that.
When we think of exiting, it is usually on less than a positive note. It denotes leaving and not coming back and leaving on a more or less, permanent basis. I equate exiting with the old time cartoons where someone would use a cane to drag the bad performer off the stage - which cartoon character was it who said, Exit - stage left?
I can only imagine what 1 billion people must look like and it makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. There are 80,000 people in my hometown and that is too much for me but I think Kimberly is on to Something. First that we need to exit every once in a while to keep our sanity and that we can do it without hiding behind closed doors. If we can learn to exit while in the company of many, we can learn to do most anything. Usually, we say, when the stars all align or I get older or I get smarter, then I can(insert better thing here). When everything is just right, then I can. When, Then. I like Kimberly's way better. It is learning to do Then, on the run. It is saying no to When. It is saying that Then is possible outside of When and I am just the girl to do it.
Don't think this is brain surgeon only material and a pretty, good life lesson. One you could pass on or even better, put into practice. If it is good enough for K and 1 billion people, it's good enough for me...
