My take? As someone who's moved an average of once every six months for the past nineteen years? Sure, there were job issues and relationship issues and affordable housing issues, but underlying all of that was the desire for change, for new experience, for not being stuck, for living creatively. Moving involves change. Change is growth. Change is learning. When we stop learning, we start dying... Love your writing, Jan.
At only 26 moves, I'm far behind you, but I absolutely understand what you're saying. When I lived in terrific flat in Oak Park, in a really great marriage, loving my work that I knew was making a real impact, I still felt like I had fallen into a poppy field (Wizard of Oz). With every move, I know that if I don't do it, I will die. A part of me will die. I may be comfortable but I wouldn't be truly alive. Thank you for writing, Rachel. It is always so good to hear from you. And thank you for your support. Wherever you go, please stay in touch.
You write so well 👏 I have felt that same call or pull and for me it’s like Abraham in the Hebrew Bible… called out to a place he knew not where.. he too finding his home in finding who he was ❤️
I have made several attempts to move out of Illinois and have had several job opportunities, but family responsibilities hindered those. My dream is to purchase a home in Switzerland. It would be a 4 to 5 hr train ride to visit you in Italy!!!
hey sis! I completely understand. Family is a strong pull for staying put and you, in particular, have had significant responsibilities for family on your shoulders. Ah, but to move to Switzerland!! I love that! And I want very much to visit. I have a cousin in Geneva but also want to visit Zurich and see the homes of Carl Jung. So good to hear from you. Please dear friend, stay in touch!
I just adore Anais Nin! Always love hearing how she's affected others as well. Have you read "The Novel of the Future"? It's such an important book for me. Was she influential on your writing too?
Sorry for changing the subject, just got a little excited!
No, I haven't read that - thanks for the recommendation! I've only read her diaries and that was decades ago. So no, I can't say she has influenced my writing directly. But the fact that I DO write, just as everything else in my life, does go back in some form to this one powerful statement.
Jan, I had not seen that Anais Nin quote before but I love that you have been carrying those words around since you were 16! Did you know at the time that they would help pull you through this (ongoing!) journey?
For me, I got an outdated Sierra Club calendar at a garage sale sometime in high school with pictures of Wyoming (where I've yet to visit) and Arizona, and knew that I always wanted to live in a landscape that dramatic (much more so than where I grew up). My recent newsletter is about this very thing, my first big move at age 23, 2,000 miles away. Your ruminations are very much on my mind!
I do understand why you must move, and reading about your experiences helps me understand my own. Thank you!
Ah Ashleigh, I am so glad to hear my writing resonates with your own journey. And your Sierra Club calendar, wow. That's pretty profound to see images that resonate so much with your soul that they propel you out into the world. At 16 I had no idea what my life would be and it was probably just a year later that the occupation I thought I would pursue (nursing) was not at all what I was meant to do. I have taped this card to the wall of almost everywhere I have ever lived. It has absolutely helped shaped my life, over and over again. Many years later, the idea that there is only love or fear - every other emotion stems from one of those two - magnified the wisdom of Anais Nin. These two thoughts have always propelled me forward.
She. I was studying I remember living away from my parents alone in a different city where I knew no one , although I was a paying guest , it was still a new world to me but I think I loved it
When my husband and I met in 1977, we each had a five year old son from a previous relationship. We've spent many, many years trying to figure out how to spend time with both families. Finally, we just moved from our long-time home in the Berkshires to a summer/fall condo in the Twin Cities near one son. We'll be spending winter/early spring in northern California near the other son. I don't think I realized how starved I was for family until we finally got this together.
Susie, So interesting that you both had sons 5 years old! What I'm really struck by, however, is your language. Being starved for family. I absolutely get it. And it makes me want to expand on the food metaphor. Our dietary needs change over the years. What nurtures us at one stage in life isn't necessarily the best for another stage in life. Even comfort food - which always makes us feel better - isn't something we can only and always eat. Sometimes, in order to get the nutrients we need, an entirely new diet is required. Your new living arrangements are that new diet. Thank you so much for this thought. I think it applies to all of us, but we tend to get caught up in the comfort food diet, not realizing it actually isn't quite as comforting as we think.
My take? As someone who's moved an average of once every six months for the past nineteen years? Sure, there were job issues and relationship issues and affordable housing issues, but underlying all of that was the desire for change, for new experience, for not being stuck, for living creatively. Moving involves change. Change is growth. Change is learning. When we stop learning, we start dying... Love your writing, Jan.
At only 26 moves, I'm far behind you, but I absolutely understand what you're saying. When I lived in terrific flat in Oak Park, in a really great marriage, loving my work that I knew was making a real impact, I still felt like I had fallen into a poppy field (Wizard of Oz). With every move, I know that if I don't do it, I will die. A part of me will die. I may be comfortable but I wouldn't be truly alive. Thank you for writing, Rachel. It is always so good to hear from you. And thank you for your support. Wherever you go, please stay in touch.
You write so well 👏 I have felt that same call or pull and for me it’s like Abraham in the Hebrew Bible… called out to a place he knew not where.. he too finding his home in finding who he was ❤️
Yes Yes Yes! Such a perfect reference, Martha! Michael Reed contributed a great guest post on this a while back: https://findinghome.substack.com/p/abraham-searches-for-home
Thank you for responding, and for your continued support! Much love to you and Gary. Some day, Inshallah, we will see each other again.
I have made several attempts to move out of Illinois and have had several job opportunities, but family responsibilities hindered those. My dream is to purchase a home in Switzerland. It would be a 4 to 5 hr train ride to visit you in Italy!!!
hey sis! I completely understand. Family is a strong pull for staying put and you, in particular, have had significant responsibilities for family on your shoulders. Ah, but to move to Switzerland!! I love that! And I want very much to visit. I have a cousin in Geneva but also want to visit Zurich and see the homes of Carl Jung. So good to hear from you. Please dear friend, stay in touch!
I just adore Anais Nin! Always love hearing how she's affected others as well. Have you read "The Novel of the Future"? It's such an important book for me. Was she influential on your writing too?
Sorry for changing the subject, just got a little excited!
No, I haven't read that - thanks for the recommendation! I've only read her diaries and that was decades ago. So no, I can't say she has influenced my writing directly. But the fact that I DO write, just as everything else in my life, does go back in some form to this one powerful statement.
Jan, I had not seen that Anais Nin quote before but I love that you have been carrying those words around since you were 16! Did you know at the time that they would help pull you through this (ongoing!) journey?
For me, I got an outdated Sierra Club calendar at a garage sale sometime in high school with pictures of Wyoming (where I've yet to visit) and Arizona, and knew that I always wanted to live in a landscape that dramatic (much more so than where I grew up). My recent newsletter is about this very thing, my first big move at age 23, 2,000 miles away. Your ruminations are very much on my mind!
I do understand why you must move, and reading about your experiences helps me understand my own. Thank you!
Ah Ashleigh, I am so glad to hear my writing resonates with your own journey. And your Sierra Club calendar, wow. That's pretty profound to see images that resonate so much with your soul that they propel you out into the world. At 16 I had no idea what my life would be and it was probably just a year later that the occupation I thought I would pursue (nursing) was not at all what I was meant to do. I have taped this card to the wall of almost everywhere I have ever lived. It has absolutely helped shaped my life, over and over again. Many years later, the idea that there is only love or fear - every other emotion stems from one of those two - magnified the wisdom of Anais Nin. These two thoughts have always propelled me forward.
She. I was studying I remember living away from my parents alone in a different city where I knew no one , although I was a paying guest , it was still a new world to me but I think I loved it
Being in "a new world" away from anyone you know can be difficult but it can also be positive and even life-changing. Thanks for your comment!
When my husband and I met in 1977, we each had a five year old son from a previous relationship. We've spent many, many years trying to figure out how to spend time with both families. Finally, we just moved from our long-time home in the Berkshires to a summer/fall condo in the Twin Cities near one son. We'll be spending winter/early spring in northern California near the other son. I don't think I realized how starved I was for family until we finally got this together.
Susie, So interesting that you both had sons 5 years old! What I'm really struck by, however, is your language. Being starved for family. I absolutely get it. And it makes me want to expand on the food metaphor. Our dietary needs change over the years. What nurtures us at one stage in life isn't necessarily the best for another stage in life. Even comfort food - which always makes us feel better - isn't something we can only and always eat. Sometimes, in order to get the nutrients we need, an entirely new diet is required. Your new living arrangements are that new diet. Thank you so much for this thought. I think it applies to all of us, but we tend to get caught up in the comfort food diet, not realizing it actually isn't quite as comforting as we think.