Today I was running. When I run, I have a lot of time to think about things. My mind was fairly idle until, without any notice or reason, I got this feeling like I was at the coast. Then, in my mind, I started pursuing this idea, analyzing what makes this feeling so unique. It got me entranced.

Think about our Oregon coast. Sketch its physicality in your mind. Grey, misty, a little gusty. There are a few main roads — larger swarms of traffic around the tourist areas. But, outside of being a guest, think of the lives of people who live there. It seems so different than the style of life in the city or even in the outskirts. Corvallis, being a college town, thrives during the school year. It seems pretty barebones outside of that frame. Still, each city seems to have its own personality.

The coast is sleepy, almost dormant. It is said that many people move to the coast to retire. I think I might understand this. Sure, there’s the ocean — calming and free to enjoy. But it might also have to do with disconnection. There are some people that, whether young or old, get this need to separate from the mainstream everyday life — and the coast is the perfect harboring for this desire. I feel like when we go to the coast it is so hard to psychoanalyze the average lifestyle of the folk there. This is different than other places you may think.

Consider a community of lower-class trailer park residents. It’s easier to assume what their lifestyle might be. I’m not going to go ahead and try to list things. My point is that you can think of a trailer park and immediately do a rough sketch and summary of the lifestyle in your mind. It’s that quick. The coast… Not so much… For me, at least.

Another example I may offer to the table is Malta, Montana — an extremely small town in the northern central region of the state. Malta gets extremely cold in the winter. Many people only live there during the more tolerable periods of time. During the winter, you may not have supplies or even electricity due to the harsh environment. Those who do stay during the winter hit up the one, single bar to pass the time. The city practically shuts down.

And so this links back to the coast and my run. I’m thinking about how all these different cities in our country and the world have their own unique zones of lifestyle. Each location functions different than the other yet we all exist on the same timeline — second by second throughout the day. Our contrast lives, although sporting entire uniqueness, never fails to fall from a parallel beat. People consistently travel, visit, vacation, or transfer to different zones. Each person has their own blueprint. It’s amazing that we are not just one world… We are a collective of worlds amongst this one planet.

Published from my iPad.