I’m originally from Austin, Texas (yes, I know, I’m a unicorn) but I left for several years for grad school and stayed gone for a bit longer for love.
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When we returned to Austin two years ago, my first reaction was, “who planted all the cacti?!”
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That probably sounds ludicrous and admittedly I still laugh at myself for saying it.
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But, genuinely, that was my reaction. I thought that the hipster’s in Austin all of a sudden were super into cacti.
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Then I took our pup, Lomeo, on a walk through one of the neighborhoods and saw some century plants that were taller than me and wider than I am tall and realized that it takes a long fucking time to grow a century plant to that size. (Ask my friends, I really like plants).
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Upon realizing this, I felt astonished that something so obvious was not at all on my radar growing up here. It was just part of the background – nothing notable.
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It also brought to mind how convinced we are of our own ideas, thoughts, perceptions, etc. And how wrong we can be.
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This story always reminds me to stay curious and to always question anything that seems “obvious” – because it may not be.
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We learn so much more – about ourselves, others, the world, etc – by considering other possibilities than we would otherwise. And, what a gift that is.