I spent quite a lot of my life in the final year of high school thinking about the broad paint strokes of my life. What would my twenties look like?
I grew up in a small city called Brisbane in Australia. One of the things that struck me was that if I graduated from a university in Brisbane and then settled down with a job in Brisbane, I could already see the next decade of my life. I would be socialising with the same friend circle that I had made in high school. I would probably continue living with my parents. It made me feel stagnant and felt like I wouldn’t change.
So, my plan? To go anywhere but home after graduating from university.
In my final year of university, I applied for many jobs interstate and managed to land one in Melbourne. To me, where I landed didn’t matter as long as I was no longer in Brisbane.
I remember the months leading up to my departure from Brisbane. I feel a deep impatience when I know that one phase of my life is ending and another is beginning. I wanted nothing more than to leave and every moment I continued to spend in Brisbane caused my heart to ache.
“How could a slave have anything to do with it? I’ve hated this city since I was a boy. I’ve spent every day of my life watching the horizon and wishing I was on the other side of it, anywhere but here.”
“I won’t suffer another day with you. My virtuous heart won’t tolerate it.”
Griffon from Virtuous Sons
I wished that I could be anywhere but here.