Traveling has always been a source of juice for me, creativity, new energy. That’s why I decided to take the summer to go back to the UK, go visit a friend in Greece, maybe go to France and/or Italy and/or Spain…
I’m now considering buying a round-the-world ticket and going to Australia and Africa, too!
Traveling can also be tiring, frustrating – I’ve spoken to so many people who’ve said “oh, I can’t take flying any more, it’s such a drag” (or words to that effect…) And sometimes I feel so drained by it all.
And yet, what’s the other side of the lines and lots of people and grumpy security folks or customs agents ?
Well, for me on May 1st it was waking up in a New England spring morning, going out into the mild wet air full of the previous night’s light rain and seeing my dinner – asparagus – shooting up through the weeds in my garden. It’s been smelling the lilacs that perfume New England in the summer, and listening to the evening peepers, after a winter in Arizona playing tennis and loving up the sun!
It was finding good people along the way back from Tucson to Montague – Jody on the plane with whom I talked about our experiences with food intolerances and learned more about my own from hearing about hers in the process. Or the airline and security people who let all my luggage on the flight even tho my checked luggage was slightly overweight and I had an extra carry-on… Or my transit through Dallas, getting friendly smiles from fellow travelers as they spotted my cat riding quietly in her carrier (a few of them actually looked at me not her!!), looking around to see what she could see and sniff what she could sniff.
And now, it’s sitting at the Bookmill in Montague, Massachusetts (”books you don’t need in a place you can’t find”, www.montaguebookmill.com, one of my favorite places on the planet) honoring a commitment I made to myself to start doing this blog. People close to me keep telling me I need to do this, but I’ve resisted, saying I’m too busy, which is true.
However, another truth is I’ve hesitated because doing a blog means revealing more of myself, and I won’t always have time to make it look as good as I might like. See, we didn’t reveal ourselves easily in my family growing up – it wasn’t safe. So as an adult I’m relearning what should have been my birthright – being fully, easily, and freely me in the world.
Sounds simple – and who knows, with all I’ve learned and unlearned over the years, maybe it will be!! We shall see – I suspect some days yes and some days no! However, for now suffice to say that I’m opening my heart and jumping into the world this summer, doing what I tell my coaching clients to do by setting a goal and moving towards it, even when the “how” or the end results can’t be seen yet.
If you’d like to come with me as I explore, it would be nice to have you along. My intention is to have lots of company and build even more of an international community on this trip, which is why in addition to the blog I’ll be exploring couchsurfing.com, and housecarers.com, and the coaching and dance communities everywhere I get a chance.
I hope you’ll join me, (whether it’s via comments on the blog, emails, or in-person meet-ups) and let me know what you see as we go!
Love,
Deborah
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