And the winds of change just keep on blowing...
Can I just say that I hate moving? But I'm getting rather good at it. I seem to be doing it a lot lately as I try on and immerse myself in different environments. Kind of an Eat, Pray, Love of various communities, gaining some new angle of perspective in each place. So far it's without Javier Bardem, though. Damn.
I'm quite sure this whole process is essentially divorce fallout as I slowly find my footing again. But I'm getting closer now. I'm figuring out what works and what doesn't in each environment, and trying to understand what factors make up my ideal community. An ideal of my own choosing, btw, which is hecka important.
I moved to the central coast of California early this year to take time to explore and relax and breathe and focus on art projects. And for the first few months, I did just that. But it's still pretty expensive here, so to help out, I took on a few tiny jobs. But those tiny jobs invariably turned into huge time sinks, leaving not much time to relax and not much energy to focus on my art and startup projects. Which was the whole point of moving away from Silicon Valley.
I have to say this area is amazing, filled to overflowing with serious natural beauty. I love my little house overlooking the quiet valley. And I adore the people that I've met in the area. The whole lot of them are pretty damn wonderful, to a person. However, in my time here, I've learned that I need a somewhat less quiet community. One with a slightly higher hipster to bubba ratio (call it H2B) to be truly at home. Sure, I'm old, but as my daughter says, I'm "cool" old, and to flourish, I need an environment that supports that.
Several years ago, my (grown) kids approached me with a goal. We are mighty spread out these days, living up and down the Pacific coast. The goal they suggested was for all of us to eventually move to the Portland, OR area and live near each other in a vibrant, creative, healthy, reasonably priced, somewhat weird (!) place.
My son is already there, and, after several recent visits, I've decided to take the leap. Yes, I'm buying the rain boots and moving back to the Portland area after 33 years away. And after so many years of drought here in California, I will be embracing the rain, the nourishing rain. Hopeful that I've found the happy medium at last. And smiling.