Place

If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go there more often.

~ Leonard Cohen

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Places matter. I remember going to a conference when I was in graduate school. There was a presentation on "sense of place." I still have the handout from that session. And then I remember reading an article in The Oxford American - "The Gathering Place" by John T. Edge. It was published in 2003, and I still have the copy of the article I tore out of the magazine even though I got rid of the rest of the magazine years ago.

That article made me want to be a writer again. And the writer part is only part of it. That article made me want to be a better listener. A better watcher. To pay attention more.

Place definitely matters. Maybe as much as who we are around, where we are matters. Where we are, in part, determines who we are around, doesn't it? Like if you're at an ice cream stand you are likely going to be around people a lot different than if you are at a cemetery. In one place you're around warm people, but you are eating something cold. In the other place you're around cold people, but eating something warm. Well, at least you are if you are alone in the cemetery eating a hot chicken sandwich.