All Things Austin
As I prepare to enter my last week in Austin, I am becoming slightly frantic to make sure I see and do all of the things that I have heard are Austin “must dos.” Yesterday as I sat at Jo’s Coffee Shop on South Congress listening to some early afternoon live music, I decided to sit down and journal for the first time since I’ve been in Austin, and the thing that was most on my mind was the personality of this city. It is known by many to be the nation’s music capital, but more than that, what has struck me most about Austin is the feeling that time passes differently here. With creative, artistic events going on every hour on the hour, it seems like people are constantly trying to pursue their passion without worrying too much about the passing of time, their plans for the near future, etc. In my interview with alumnus Stephen Salisbury a few weeks ago, he said a few comments which really resonated with the way that I have felt in Austin:
Regarding the “creative world,” he said: “I think there are a lot of creative people here but there is less of a drive to get to the top which there would be in bigger markets, which is good and bad depending on what you are looking for.”
Regarding Austin life, he said: “You can be very comfortable in Austin and not push yourself to do much more than hang out. There is so much stuff to just do, to consume.”
As I sat with a few fellow SOW members outside of a frozen yogurt shop last week, I asked them to tell me adjectives that they thought described Austin based on their experiences so far, and our pool of words was the following: young, active, alive, quirky, laid-back and free-spirited. While we have only spent a short six weeks here, I think it’s fair to say that a lot of us have fallen in love with the rhythm of life and attitude of this city. It encourages you to be active, creative and spirited, while also pushing you to focus on the present: sit down to enjoy live music, go to “happy hour” yoga at a coffee shop, eat too much Tex Mex, and (if you are of age of course), try a margarita!
