A book I never thought I’d like has led to a few realizations and now I’m depressed. I always knew I thought differently than most people, but I always that it was just that. The mechanics of thinking. My brain telling or showing me things instead of me driving the thinking. I can’t visualize and have no internal monologue. Neither of these is a handicap but it creates a different mechanic for thinking and explains why I sometimes call everything a dishwasher.
The book in question is Simon Sinek’s Start With Why. I always figured my cynical nature would take over and the book would read like mindset mumbo jumbo, but instead it is causing me to have some realizations about how unique I am, how much of my life I have squandered, and I am not sure I like it.
Take a dumb thought I had the other week of American Dream Neighborhoods. Neighborhoods of affordable homes. Something around 900 – 1400 sq ft on half acre lots. Homes like they used to build. Little two to three bedroom homes with the proverbial white picket fence. That isn’t all though. These neighborhoods would have a town square of necessary businesses. A small grocery store the size of an IGA or A&P, a doctor, a vet, dentist, a restaurant, and a couple other things people enjoy. Neighborhood events on the green space, a park for sports, play, and fitness, and a few other amenities.
Not the end of the thought though. These would be starter homes and we would partner with a lending institution to offer onsite lending. This is normal in model home neighborhoods. However we would also offer an optional buyback program. That when someone is ready to move on they have the option to sell the home back to the neighborhood instead of dealing with the sales process themselves. There would be no closing cost or waiting for a buyer to appear.
The big why behind all this is the American dream should be affordable and everyone deserves a home of their own, but for me that is the end. I have no how. I have no way to bring my vision to life, and that is depressing. And that is how a book can both make you realize you might actually be unique and crush your spirit all at once.
