What Small Island Living has Taught Me: Part 1

I am from Saint Lucia, one of the most beautiful islands in the Caribbean. Honestly, i could not imagine completely leaving this place forever. We have waterfalls, mountains, lovely beaches, tropical wildlife, lovely people and a drive in volcano..you read that right ..DRIVE-IN VOLCANO.

Unlike many, I've been gifted enough to see what life is like in somewhere like Manhattan where everything is moving so fast and here, where things seem to move slower and life seems to be easier. This has made me appreciate opportunity a lot more and has made me resourceful. I became a resourceful person because I had no choice. While my family wasn't completely poor, we weren't exactly rich either and many times when my parents couldn't afford to give me something i had to improvise and that attitude has not left me to this day.

I find that very valuable because it has opened my mind to detect opportunity in my environment. I'm not fancy and to be honest, as long as it's an honest living, I'll do it. I'll do anything I can to achieve what i want and a lot of the time i can't allow myself to empathize with people who are lazy or closed minded. Where i come from if you can't find a job you basically went into stuff like construction, hard labor, and most of the time it pays like shit so imagine my face when I came to Manhattan. ...

I remember very vividly getting off the subway and walking to the exit and there this guy playing drums using paint buckets that had collected a guitar full of cash. At the time, I was blown away, he probably had a few hundred dollars in there, maybe close to a thousand, and I just imagined making lets say $500/night beating paint buckets in a subway station for one year. That may not seem like much to you but remember I come from a small island and lemme tell you, most people don't see that kind of money. As I continued my stroll I saw so much more and for the first time in my life i understood the "Immigrant Edge".