Did you know? Boring cities are bad for your health. Well, that’s according to what Wired said and reflecting on my own experience, that can’t be further from the truth. But boring according to them is mostly industrialized areas. To me, boring is a place that has no nature, no culture and no arts that coexist and thrive.

For a decade, I have lived in a vibrant province. It’s where people from all over the country travel and even wish to travel. It’s got culture, arts, tech, and nature thrown into this tiny special province. It’s just a mid-sized area, it’s not too big that can drive you crazy and it’s not too small that can also drive you insane.

Having moved into a smaller town, I can safely say I haven’t adapted quite well. Sure, when it comes to convenience I could basically get by but when it comes to stimulating the environment, spaces, and public spaces, it was where I lacked. I began to realize that my dream began shrinking and suddenly everything felt so tiny and hopeless despite the fact that I live in a decent place.

Back in the day, though I lived in a place that’s quite unlivable, at least the trade off was that I lived in this stimulating city. Every day there’s always something new, some place to explore, cuisines to try, people to meet.

If you were to choose which one would you choose?

1. To live in a thriving society, stimulating and there’s always something new but you probably live in some small house and it could be quite unlivable.
2. To live in a boring society that shrinks your dream,your world but you live in a beautiful house and you don’t have to pay rent.

You know, as much as I tried to enliven my current space, it feels a lot different than if I were to stay in this city. With people being more open minded and younger people in the area, it is easier to start something new,to teach something new, to venture out of the ordinary because you’re surrounded by people who dream and attempt the same thing.

If you live in a place abundant with nature and have so much potential to explore, I think you should be grateful. I mean at least, we can switch places 😂. For now, I can’t influence my mom to move fully to some countryside that’s not too boring, so that’s gotta be some time.

But let me offer another lens, something I also try to see as to how I feel about all these differences in places and its energy. A good friend of mine told me that we feel bored because we’re disconnected with our surroundings. Though,now, I learned that it wasn’t that I was disconnected, it was something far deeper personal.

“Try using the word disconnected in all the places you would use the word bored, see how it feels.”

I complained the same thing when I lived in such a thriving and cultural city because literally at one point, I thought I explored everything. But I find complaining more even in a small, boring town. If I were to say to my younger self, I would just go out more and live more. Although,honestly to those who know me, that sounds almost like a joke and contradictory. Well, because I do travel and I talk to strangers, though it seems kind of weird these days, innit?

Honestly,if I were given the choices above, I would choose option A. I mean I realized, our environment can be changed but not an energy of place. It is hard to change. So, if you live in a place close to nature, with many places to see and do, congrats, you’re lucky in this life.

Take for example, when I see places like Havana from @nanixxx with its one of a kind-architecture or the streets of venezuela from @jlinaresp to even scenic places in the Philippines, I feel inspired. They are just so good in the picture with their own imperfections. It’s an orderly chaos unlike where I am living now, (not the pictures featured here) but my usual place where if you were to frame it and even if you try to make it inspiring, it’s not. It will just turn out idyllic and boring. Some places are meant to be like that and that’s OK. For some people they could love it, but definitely not me. And just as the title say,you can fix a building, the house, whatever place it but what makes a place truly unique is not only the people but also the energy surrounding the area.