For pretty much my whole life, I have hated my hometown. That is until about five months before I left for college. I think it’s hard for most people to learn to love their hometown. In general, most people come from boring places that they can’t wait to escape from. That was exactly the case for me…until I learned to change my perspective. Mind you, I come from one of the most boring and random places, Ohio. If I can learn to love my hometown, anyone can.
What helped me the most at first was just accepting that my hometown was never going to be this glamorous place that I had wanted. It was a bit hard, I mean I spent my whole life wishing that it was something that it clearly wasn’t. But coming to terms with the fact that it wasn’t perfect, was the first step to start loving it.
Next was finding places I loved to go to that were in my hometown. I used to hate the fact that there was never anything for me to do. But, I used that to my advantage. I found my favorite thrift store. I found the perfect place to picnic and read. I found the perfect sunset spot (which to me was most important). I found places that felt like my own. Places that I feel like I won’t ever be able to replace no matter where I go.
One thing that I found helped me and also gave me something to do was redecorating. I felt like my space wasn’t reflecting who I was anymore. Of course I would feel out of place in my town if I didn’t even feel comfortable in my own room. This actually became one of my passion projects. I spent so much time at thrift stores looking for the perfect décor that really represented me. I spent hours on Pinterest deciding what kind of décor was best for my room. I arranged and rearranged more times than I could count. I wanted it to be perfect, so that my space perfectly reflected me. So now every time I came home to my room, I felt like I was entering a place that was all mine.
Something else that helped me connect with my hometown was forming deeper connections with the people that I was surrounding myself with. In my experience, friendships are quality over quantity. I stopped trying to talk to a million people and decided to focus on the people who I knew had my best interest at heart.
This all might look daunting, especially for someone who doesn’t understand the importance of their hometown. As much as I used to hate to admit it, that is the place that shaped me into the person I am today. My life became infinitely better when I realized it wasn’t somewhere that I wanted to escape anymore. I live in my college town now, but every time I visit home I just feel a sense of peace. Every person should feel that way when they go home and I hope this helps you understand how to achieve that someday.