Iowa: A State of Mind

Iowa has a mesmerizing impact on memory.  A slow, methodical place where important values of life are passed on to its residents and a place that is hard to remove that imprint on life. A state made up of vast farmlands, small decaying towns, and few cities.  A place where young people wait to escape and a place where they are drawn to return once they are gone.  It lies unsettled on the mind.

Maya Angelou says, “The truth is you never can leave home. You take it with you everywhere you go. It’s under your skin. It moves the tongue or slows it, colors the thinking, impedes upon the logic. I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself."

It can cause a schizophrenic split in how one describes it; ranting on about the malaise it produces while simultaneously extolling its virtues.  People can move from Iowa but will the essence of Iowa leave them?  It is a part of the heart and soul of their being; a place that appears to offer no hope of potential, yet a place that stays in the mind.

 

Leaving the state of Iowa may be easier than escaping from its state-of-mind.  It lies unquiet as former Iowans move around the globe.  It whispers in a seductive voice in the back of the mind recalling the past, the lessons, and the memories of this place.  This voice draws the unsuspecting traveler to return home to Iowa.  

When they arrive they may wonder why they are there.  On the surface Iowa seems to have little to offer but underneath it soothes the being.  Returning home the mind recalls the peace the heart remembers.  Iowa is a good place to be from, to return to, and to remember with great fondness. 

As Terence Mann in the movie “Field Of Dreams” says, “Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.”

Ah, Iowa is a great state and a wonderful state-of-mind.  A place where in your youth you are eager to leave, but having carved a lasting memory in your soul you are forever called home.

PSG

7/18/15