why we live here

not too long ago the mountain xpress did a series on small towns in western north carolina and what made them special. brevard was the first to be featured, and I was beyond excited when I picked up my copy. the first time I flipped through that week's issue (because mostly I love the xpress for the horoscopes and the movie reviews and the rest is hit or miss), I missed the brevard coverage entirely. and when I did finally find it, I was terribly disappointed. barely two pages, and those two pages were mostly restaurant reviews and information anyone could find on a quick wikipedia search. I didn't see my sweet little town in those two pages at all.

so I am going to do what the xpress didn't: a whole series on why my family (and lots of other really great people, too) keep on choosing to live here. sure it's small, and the restaurant options are limited, but the choices for food we do have include some really great ones. and their may not be much industry here and it is tough to find a job, but that breeds some of the most creative small business owners I've ever met. and you can't shop at target in transylvania county, but some people actually view that as a good thing. you have to drive an hour to get to a movie theater with more than one choice,  but it's only fifteen minutes to the hiking of your dreams. pretty good trade offs in my book.

but natural beauty and small town living are just a part of why we stay. there is something about this place that lends itself to a pace of life that can't be found just anywhere. and because brevard is small, we need each other, which is pretty unique, too. and sure, it is a great place to raise kids, but I think it is a pretty wonderful place to be raising myself, too: raising my awareness of positive environmental practices because we are so connected to our natural world here, raising my consciousness of how my choices effect others because it is more obvious in this little town, and raising my standard of living to include real intimate relationships, serious volunteer involvement, and honest intention to enjoy it all because my community needs these parts of me.

I have lots of ideas for this series, tons of reasons to back up our decision to make this place home. but part of community is idea swapping, and I want to hear what make brevard worth sticking around for you. why do you live here? why do you stay? when you visit other places, what makes you want to come home? and for those of you who live somewhere else but love brevard anyway, what makes you smile about your time here?

I didn't always love living here. we've left and come back three times now. there are days I feel stuck and trapped and cold. there are days when I feel like I have done all I can in this place, offered all I have to offer, seen all there is to see. but here is home base, if nothing else, the place I need as a touchstone in my life to remember who I am, where I'm going, and why it matters. and I can't wait to share all those pieces of living here with you.