I haven't done anything very exciting today, and I'm not feeling terribly creative or poetic at the moment, so I thought I'd just freewrite until I have enough text to justify a blog. A lot of times when I was younger, I'd dream about going to sleep and waking up in another century or another time and place where I could have adventures like those kids I read about in books (Magic Treehouse!). And just now, I thought, once again, that that would be a great adventure. Right? If I could just have an adventure and come out of it, back to where I am right now, so that no time has passed at all, that would just be awesome. I'd have to take a friend, of course; otherwise, I'd have no one to blab to afterwards without seeming like a total lunatic.
The issue always arises, however, when I imagine where I'd go. The kids I read about where mostly of some kind of European descent because that's what you get for reading young adult American literature, and so whenever I imagine myself on one of their journeys in history, I'd suddenly realize that even without the modern clothes and out-of-place gadgets, I wouldn't be able to blend in because of my skin color. Even if everyone spoke modern English, I wouldn't be able to effectively complete my quest without probably being thrown into slavery or beheaded for looking odd. If I arrived in America before...I'd say the 1970s, no one would talk to me, from being too mellow, or from a racist streak left over from the Second World War. Thus, I couldn't travel anywhere outside of East Asia which would limit the friends I could take and the conversations we could have with people. In the end, I decided that the here and now is probably the best place for me. It's kind of a weird thought, I know, but I realize that these considerations are especially true even now. Having traveled to Greece and Italy, I realize that I don't fit in, and really wouldn't in the past. *Feeling quite lucky to be living in this century.*
See you tomorrow!
The issue always arises, however, when I imagine where I'd go. The kids I read about where mostly of some kind of European descent because that's what you get for reading young adult American literature, and so whenever I imagine myself on one of their journeys in history, I'd suddenly realize that even without the modern clothes and out-of-place gadgets, I wouldn't be able to blend in because of my skin color. Even if everyone spoke modern English, I wouldn't be able to effectively complete my quest without probably being thrown into slavery or beheaded for looking odd. If I arrived in America before...I'd say the 1970s, no one would talk to me, from being too mellow, or from a racist streak left over from the Second World War. Thus, I couldn't travel anywhere outside of East Asia which would limit the friends I could take and the conversations we could have with people. In the end, I decided that the here and now is probably the best place for me. It's kind of a weird thought, I know, but I realize that these considerations are especially true even now. Having traveled to Greece and Italy, I realize that I don't fit in, and really wouldn't in the past. *Feeling quite lucky to be living in this century.*
See you tomorrow!
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