Can a city gal and her husband change their lives? For thirty years we have lived in North Vancouver. In the same house. Raised two children. Made money. Enjoyed all the city had to offer. And then we went camping in our VW westvalia. We unplugged – from the computer, the Internet and the TV. We sat under the stars on Vancouver Island, stared at a roaring fire and decided to change our life. We weren’t planning to. In two days we bought a new house. Came back home and sold our old one. We move on Saturday October 31 – a month after our camping trip.
Can we make new friends? Embrace new activities? Live an outdoor life? Can we reinvent ourselves? We have decided to give it one year. And then we can move back to city if our experiement fails. But our one year trial must be a fair trial and we must embrace our new life and try every opportunity it affords.
We needed an adventure. We have one.
Go west, young (wo)man! You will breed inspiration! Brings to mind a favorite poem: The Journey by Mary Oliver:
ReplyDeleteOne day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.
Stuff. We have tons of it. We have thrown a lot of stuff out. We have given a ton of stuff away – to any one we can find and to any organization that will take it. And, we still have a house full of boxes full of … stuff. I think I am finished with stuff for stuff’s sake. Less stuff – clearer mind? Do I want to have a relationship with stuff or an active, engaged life? But there are some exceptions. First I have to acquire some toys! Wii plus, a pickup and camper for winter camping and… maybe a sailboat. Then I won’t need any more suff.
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