PROMPT: Out of Place

Daily writing prompt
Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

I feel out of place in social settings pretty much everywhere and always. This, perhaps surprisingly, has made me an excellent and avid traveler because I feel the same level of out of place among a group of people who speak a different native language, practice an unfamiliar religion, and who have different skin and hair characteristics as I would with a group of people who share a common ancestry, went to the same school, and grew up with the same cultural trappings. This creates an internal pressure to go to unfamiliar places, because familiar places offer the same anxiety with none of the learning opportunities, whereas the unfamiliar always offers new lessons.

DAILY PHOTO: Skylines from Parks, Chicago

DAILY PHOTO: Willis Tower at a Distance

DAILY PHOTO: Marina City [Corn Cob Buildings]

DAILY PHOTO: Vista Tower [The St. Regis]

DAILY PHOTO: Roanoke River Scenes

DAILY PHOTO: Four Iconic Chicago Sculptures

The Flamingo [Alexander Calder] at Federal Plaza
The Picasso [Pablo Picasso] at Daley Plaza
Monument with Standing Beast [Jean Dubuffet] at Thompson Center
Chevron [John Henry] at Lincoln Park

DAILY PHOTO: Ukrainian National Museum [Chicago]

DAILY PHOTO: Art & Architecture in Chicago

The sculpture is called Large Interior Form (1982) by Henry Moore. It is located in the North Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago. The building in the background [across Michigan Ave.] is the University Club of Chicago.

DAILY PHOTO: Blessed Maria Gabriella – East Parish