Being a part of it

When the going gets tough, the tough take a stroll in Dorchester, Mass. Boston is a city full of inspiring sights but Dorchester is the part of Boston that breeds aspirations. I have wandered these streets and felt myself buoyed to flights of fancy inspired by the people who crisscross this liveliest part of a great, active metropolis. You can be down on your luck, counting on the loose change in your pocket to get through the day, without a hope in the world yet plenty of cares. Time spent in Dorchester will show you the way past immediate hardship if you have the eyes to see rainbows.

The economics in Dorchester aren't rosy. Details are difficult to pin down, but a neutral statistician will soon deduce that Dorchester's per capita income skews Boston's overall average down. You'll see frowns in Dorchester, but most of them are turned upside down. This is a neighborhood full of stores that boast your dollar will buy more here. It isn't the material things that count in the end, though. If you don't have money, you still have your health. If you don't have good health, you still have your family. If you are a transplant, you have the surrounding community. High fences may make good neighbors, but Dorchesterites make the best neighbors of all.

The people of Dorchester are rich in gumption and pride. They get knocked down on a regular basis but that doesn't stop them from starting each day with a grin, good cheer, and the expectation that things will get better. Things often do get better, eventually. It is good to be alive in Dorchester, just as it is good to be alive in any part of Boston. A city is a place where opportunities coalesce in kaleidoscopic array. Some people pick the low fruit while others reach for the stars.

Aim high if you want to hit the mark. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Be prepared for whatever chance may come your way. Let Fortune be your guide. Follow you nose through thickets and brambles and down Dot Ave. It is always darkest before the dawn though platitudes won't put food on the table. Hustle and bustle are Dorchester's hallmarks. If you can make it here you can make it anywhere.

I only speak for Dorchester, but I think all of Boston is a place of opportunity if you can seize a day and make it yours and parlay that into weeks and months and years. Fortune smiles on the bold. The Imperatrix Mundi has a special dispensation for Boston and an even more especial one for those who call the Dot home.