I feel like every time I see or hear people discussing their hometowns, it's either because they're bashing them and so glad they got out, or because they're so happy to still be there, and have never left. I want to see more of the in-between, though.

It's so important to keep in mind that you can 100% be proud of where you come from, where you grew up, and where your friends and/or family reside. And you can do this while also not being stuck there or staying there forever.

You can also go somewhere else for a while and then decide to come back, and maybe raise a family there, or whatever the case may be. Can we stop with the idea that people who end up (however they get there) back in their hometowns are just “stuck"? It doesn't have to be that way. It isn't like that. There's a happy medium and it's time we find it.

I'm all for people doing their own thing. And people have different journeys, different paths they're on, and different things that work for them. What works for you may not work for someone else and I think it's about time we recognize this.

I personally grew up in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, and I have moved away since, for college and work, but I am 100% confident I will move back to the area in a couple of years because I want to have a home there and raise my family there.

That being said, I'm glad I've gotten away for a while and experienced different ways of life, basically, and gotten to be in different environments. That is so rewarding that I can't even accurately explain it.

That doesn't mean I'm stuck in my hometown, or anything like that, though. It just means St. Louis is the place which is best suited for me and my decisions as far as where I want to be and where I want to have my job and my family.

I also know some people who have not moved away, but it's not because they are against other experiences or anything like that. It's just because it's the way it has worked out for them in their own journey. It's not up to us to judge or to generalize and assume everyone is the same or undergoing the same circumstances.

Being proud of where you come from and getting away and out of your comfort zone is equally important.