C'mon and bring the Illinoise by Stufjan Stevens

C'mon and bring the Illinoise by Stufjan Stevens
Growing up I clung to an idea. "Since I was not born in my hometown, I am not limited by it." It seems silly now, but it was very important to me at the time. Momence was not an inspiring place growing up. One of my elementary field trips was to the hog processing plant. Yes...a hog plant. I felt out of place. The down slump the town was going through seemed to drag everyone with it. The town was dying, or so it seemed to my over dramatic youthful self.
Older and wiser, I now see being born in Kankakee county does not curse one to be small town. My mantra was a way of dealing with the pain from an awkward adolescence. I was teased by my class mates. I did not fit in. It hurt. Hurt a lot. Focusing on my outsider birth place allowed me to deal with being an outsider at my school.
-Jason Arcand
www.littleenandbigen.com