It is amazing, the things taken for granted. For example, the place where one lives is often taken for granted or ignored or even vilified, depending upon the person.

Some folks arrive from a larger city than Valdosta and are almost immediately insulted that Valdosta or a neighboring South Georgia town doesn’t have the same number of events as Atlanta, New York or some other humongous city of the Western Hemisphere. 

Well, of course, South Georgia doesn’t. It is a smaller region. Despite its metropolitan status, Valdosta is a much, much, much smaller town than Atlanta or New York. And anyone arriving from a larger city should know this before they travel here.

Still, Valdosta has much to offer. And really, what Valdosta and South Georgia offer isn’t secret, hidden and rarely exclusive. Each day the pages of this newspaper are filled with listings for events, clubs, concerts, etc.

What seems to be truly taken for granted are the people we meet here each day. Like most places, Valdosta and South Georgia have their share of people who have become celebrities or legendary figures on the national stage. 

Yet, it is the local folks who aren’t known in every American household or have their names and faces on magazines or in history books whom are often the most astounding. If we only take a few moments to appreciate them.

Have you ever heard the most amazing singing coming from someone you know, but the rest of the world and the recording industry have never heard? 

Perhaps, it was someone you’ve heard singing in church, either in the choir or from the pew behind you. Or perhaps, it was a musician in a night-club band, or maybe, it was your mother singing lullabies when you were a child. 

The most incredible voice coming from a person you know. Maybe the rest of the world doesn’t recognize this talent, but you do. And that should mean more than any record in your collection or any hit song playing on the radio or streaming through your phone. Voices such as these exist here, and they should be appreciated and celebrated.

What of beauty? 

More than likely the most beautiful person you’ve ever seen wasn’t on a magazine or in a movie. The most beautiful person we’ve ever seen is often someone we know, or have met, or have seen from across a room.

Beauty is not, as the sages say, skin-deep. 

Beauty is physical and ephemeral. It is looks and personality, substance and spirit, and these qualities create attraction. If folks are lucky, they marry the person who is most beautiful to them, the person who is most attractive. 

Good-looking celebrities are fine but, for most folks, a celebrity’s beauty isn’t even skin deep.

It is as deep as a flat photograph, as deep as reflected light and images from a TV or movie or phone screen. Few folks regularly meet these good-looking celebrities. So, they are not real, breathing, three-dimensional human beings to most of us.

The most beautiful person most of us have seen is someone we’ve known, and if we are lucky, we see them every day. This beauty is also available here.

Laughter isn’t the domain of the famous either. 

Probably, the biggest laughs any of us have ever enjoyed come from people we know. Friends and family who are funnier than the highest-paid comedian. Or maybe it is an incident that is only funny to us. But these things happen on a personal level, with only yourself and a few others recognizing this comic genius in our midst.

These incredible qualities happen on so many local and personal levels. Think of the most heroic person you know. Once your mind clears away the images of national and historic figures, one of your biggest heroes may likely settle on a face of someone you know, whether it is a parent, a friend, a co-worker or a neighbor.

Who did the most incredible thing you’ve ever seen? 

Again, once the mind gets past the images of a televised sporting event or a Hollywood-created situation, it will likely land on a friend or relative or a classmate from school.

Who was the most kind? The strongest? The smartest? The most talented? The biggest character? 

More than likely the answer to all of these questions is someone you know from something you’ve experienced.

And the opportunity to witness all of these feats is available in the people who live here as they are accessible in the people in towns across the nation and world.

For truly, Valdosta’s and South Georgia’s greatest resources are the people who live here. And if you feel there is nothing to do here, then meet a few of the people here, and perhaps, you will find plenty in this place that is now your home.

Dean Poling is an editor with The Valdosta Daily Times.