“If you never go anywhere, you never go anywhere.”
I was the kid who couldn’t wait to leave home. Any excuse! Preparation for vacations, trips to camp, performances out of town, continuing training, business meetings — always very exciting. I fully embraced the fact that I was going to arrive somewhere, and didn’t really dwell on the other side of the coin, which was that I had left someplace behind.
I was eager to head off to college, to move to a new state after I married, and then to make a home in Texas. I’ve left places when it was my choice, and I’ve left places when it wasn’t my choice. When it was my choice, it was better.
Some leavings were full of drama. Leaving a person, a situation, a lifestyle. A job, a relationship, an identity. Those instances probably make for juicier stories. But those are in the past, and I am content to leave them there. They taught me all they had to teach, and I learned. Sometimes, it is time for things to end. The show has closed. Next!
Nowadays, I love to be at home with sweetheart, cats, my lovely office, our artwork, and the life that is here for us together. I leave home almost every day, going to activities that I love, for work and play. These leavings and homecomings form a delightful and nurturing rhythm for my life now.
This really resonated with me, especially the last paragraph. I hardly wait to get home at the end of the long day.
“…and didn’t really dwell on the other side of the coin, which was that I had left someplace behind.”
That sits with me. I have always been the opposite; mourning the loss of the place I am leaving and forgetting to embrace the excitement of arriving somewhere new. Thank you for the reminder to endeavour to do both.