SOULTIGHT

"...It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isle  & though we are not now that strength which in old days

moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

 Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

 To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield...."   

--Alfred Lord Tennyson

I’ve been thinking about that poem a lot  lately, and I think what he was trying to convey was, while it’s tempting to play it safe, the more we’re willing to risk, the more alive we are.

In the end, what we regret most is the chances we never took…

I took a chance, leaving my comfort zone, which was Milwaukee Wisconsin, to Beaverton Oregon, a place in which I am one of only 3 black people I see in an entire week if I didn’t go to church or to the barbershop. In Milwaukee, my entire world was was about 97% minorities.

Do I have any regrets?  I'm still trying to get acclimated. I do love my job, though I do feel my culture is slowly becoming diluted. 
I have friends who still sing the praises of the State of Oregon, and they question the mental capacity of any one who would not want to live here, but these, my caucasian friends, have no knowledge of what it's like to be the only caucasian person, anywhere they choose to go, and since they have a different perspective than I do, they can't even relate to how I feel. I get to the point where I now get excited to see another black person, even if  they see me and quickly look in the opposite direction to avoid speaking-- 
Overall, it's the friendliest place I have ever lived. It's just culturally bland