Back to Massachusetts
After four and a half years in Oklahoma, I have returned to Massachusetts. (Photo: the view from our deck, in our new house in Marshfield)
The time in OK was wonderful. I learned a great deal about storytelling from the fine folks in the heartland. I learned about waiting calmly and patiently. I learned about connecting with everyone I came in contact with.
Now that I’ve come back East (admittedly, to the small town of Marshfield, not to the densely populated towns adjacent to Boston, where I lived before), I’ve found that the people here have many of the same lessons to teach me!
Do you know the story about the traveller who asks a local, “What are the people like here?”
The local asks back, “What were the people like where you came from?”
The traveller says, “They were mean and ignorant.”
The local says, “Well, you’ll find them to be much the same here.”
Then another traveller asks the same question. The local asks back, “What were the people like where you came from?”
The traveller says, “They were kind, open, and smart.”
So the local says, “Well, you’ll find them to be much the same here.”
Knowing that story, I’m abashed to learn that it has applied to me all these years! Going from Boston to Oklahoma, I found the people in OK much nicer. But now that I’ve returned, I see that the people here are just as nice!
Telling a story doesn’t mean that I’ve actually learned from it yet.
