San Luis Obispo, California–a central coast haven nestled in valley. There’s only one highway (thank GOD), the weather is hardly seasonal despite a little winter rain here and there and there’s always something to do at the center of it all downtown. Whether or not they’re local to the area, Cal Poly students always name the peaceful area as a huge factor in their decision to make SLO their temporary home, myself included. It’s easy to fall in love with the vibrant sunsets over Bishop Peak, which never really get old.
But after three years with SLO as my home, I’ve found myself less impressed by the sunsets. Studying at the cafes seemed stale–I’ve been to them all. Heading to Avila Beach or Morro Bay for a beach day or a sunset was drearily commonplace. I’m not yet 21, so my downtown experience capps out around 9 p.m. when the shops and the majority of the restaurants close. In short, I’ve been bored, and upon talking with some of my friends, I found I was not the only one who feels this way.
So I began to ask myself: is SLO boring? Can familiarity with a place really breed contempt for it? And if so, why?
I do admit that, at the time I thought of this article, I was smack in the middle of spring quarter, a dark time between spring break and summer where everything has a relatively unfortunate overtone. I also will say that, between then and now, my circumstances regarding SLO have improved significantly: I turned 21 and I made it through the quarter (though I was almost defeated by the Balrog of week 10). Those concessions being made, I still worry about being bored with the small town lifestyle for another year.
Turning 21 may not be enough to stop the boredom on a long-term scale. So what can?
Well, to start, I began to travel around the area to camp or to just spend a few hours somewhere else. While I went to Zion National Park for Spring Break to get away, I feel that just going to Big Sur or to Cambria or to Santa Barbara, somewhere just that much more out of the way than Avila or Morro, helped me to gain a new appreciation for the area and for SLO. While I don’t think I could ever get bored with natural areas like Big Sur, I just I don’t think the solution I needed was as simple as doing more in the area.
I think that this issue of boredom and dissatisfaction, for lack of a kinder word, seems inherent in being in your 20s in 2016. Finishing up undergrad and applying to graduate school or preparing to enter the ever-daunting Real World™ is a really huge change for a lot of people, and it’s a huge fear that we’ll be dissatisfied with the choices we make (“Fight Club” really did not help with that). It’s so easy to project satisfaction on the future you that it becomes even easier to contrast not-yet-existent future happiness with present “okay-ness” and see where you are now as a negative or “lesser” place.
This was and is the problem I had and have. I love my life and my choices, but as I am often forward-thinking to a fault, I project such a goodness onto my future that my present becomes “Not There” instead of “Here”. I’m not bored with or dissatisfied with SLO, but since it’s where I currently am, I don’t like it as much as I think the idea of being somewhere else.
So, where’s the positive ending to this story? How am I going to wrap this up in an encouraging way? Well, here’s my attempt at encouragement by talking about what I’ve come to realize: Boredom is a positive thing, but can be overdone or projected onto the wrong thing, as I did for SLO. I urge myself every day, and I urge you, to never stop being hungry for a better future, because that’s what changes the world. However, you must be careful to not forget where you are. In that sense, the present is the only thing that exists, and it is amazing that you, or any of us, are where we are. Focus on it. Dwell on it. The future will come when it comes. Prepare for it, but don’t forget, one day it will become the present. “San Luis Obispo” is just the name of my present. What is the name of yours?