I've been thinking quite a bit recently about how there a literally billions of stories happening all over the world to billions of people in billions of moments. Even just your neighbors, people who live not even 100 yards from you, have complete lives with stories you've never heard or imagined. Now, the stories that directly touch or affect a person tend to be the most significant to said person, right? Wrong. Well, not wrong but not always right either. You see, that's kind of the point of art. Literature, paintings, music, and even blogging are all windows into stories that may not be occurring/have occurred adjacent to our lives but they have something important or meaningful to say about the shared human experience. I (and I believe several other people) think that one of the most fun and important things that we humans should do in our time here on earth is to understand as much about the universe as possible, including the inner recesses and workings of our minds and souls.
Last December, I read a book by John Green called
An Abundance of Katherines. It was extremely good and if you haven't read it, borrow it from your local library or, better yet, buy yourself a copy at an independent book store near you! {
Also here is the Amazon link if you are lazy.} [/tangent]
In this book, the main character, Colin, sets out on a road trip with his best friend in an attempt to get over a particularly nasty break-up. They pull off the road to find a tourist attraction in the small town of Gunshot, TN. Far from the length of a pit-stop, their stay in this small town becomes a huge adventure that changes their lives. Every decision we make, every person we interact with, makes little changes in the courses of our lives, like ripples in a pool.
[Recommended reading: Another novel I just finished literally 18 minutes ago that follows this same vein is called
Floating in My Mother's Palm by Pacific Northwest native Ursula Hegi]
