Is there anyone else out there who avoids their home town because going there doesn’t evoke good memories? Today I head out there one more time. It seems many people enjoy visiting the place they grew up because there are still people there who they enjoy seeing: family, old friends, past neighbors, etc. Or they might just like visiting their former home or school or places they used to hang out with friends.
I’ve broken most of my ties to the place where I grew up: Walnut Creek, California USA. I haven’t kept in touch with school friends or anyone else who still lives there, with the exception of my parents (now just my dad). The rest of my family doesn’t live in Walnut Creek. My parents raised me and my sister far from our grandparents, cousins and other family. I now visit those relatives where they live, elsewhere.
When it comes to Walnut Creek, I prefer elsewhere.
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| Yeah, I know. Walnut Creek CA is pretty. |
And I am working on a book, although its been put on hold while I put my life together here. Hoping to self-publish in early 2014.
DEAR EVERYONE WHO HAS COMMENTED HERE: thank you so much for these comments! They mean a LOT to me. I've been having email trouble, so I didn't read these until today, but I'm so glad I found them. My mother hated for me to blog about family stuff, and now that she's dead I'm getting pressure from others about how I share too much on my blog. Your words strengthen my determination to keep writing my truth even though sometimes that truth will splash others. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I have to believe the blog will end up a book. I certainly hope so. I think what passes for the Latina voice, the female voice, the diagnosed voice is missing important working parts- all present in your writing. You're very important, and you'll likely not know it unless we tell you so. And so there it is.
Here is something I'd like for you to comment upon some day. I was talking to an old friend and hysterically describing my loneliness, my lack of connection, my lack of satisfaction, my talent falling short, my weight gain. This lovely friend said, "What you need to realize is that no one gives a #$@*." I'm 40, and it startled me. It just seemed like the most honest thing I'd heard in a while. Even if it wasn't the truth. It was just so honest. And I laughed for the first time in a long time. -Anon 1
I didn't have a happy childhood, and I hated highschool. So I never really had any connections to my life there… even though my parents are still there. So I'm not really a big fan of the hometown… until I moved somewheres WORSE than the place I left family. So I guess I'm not avoiding hometown…
Hi Regina, I'm the Anonymous who posted on your "Now I Know" post, my name is Regina also. I feel the same way about your blog as the other Anonymous who stated it so eloquently. I was amazed that you were so open and not trying to present a perfect life to the world, also your posts are so clever and thought provoking and I relate to a lot of things you write about. I don't have a diagnosis of depression, but I have a chronic illness, so
I do relate. Thank you for the info on tapping – I've tried it once and may go back again.
I always check in to your blog. I think you have a voice that's beyond your time; and the times are not going to catch up. You're contribution is so utterly important because you're this rare combo of humanistic, uncompromising, and kind. You don't hide your depression or neurosis. That's fearless. I agree with nothing you say completely, but everything you say has resonated with me on some level. Watching your journey unfold is good, powerful. I don't like to post, but it's really important to tell you how quality your blog is- your voice is.