Comments on:

by: Korina

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 07:24:55 +0000

Have you tried the nourishing/depleting exercise? You write down all the things you typically (I know, few of us have a “typical” day) do and then rate each according to whether they nourish you or deplete you. Of course, many things we do that deplete us we deeply love, but the exercise here is to see what activities energize you and which take away your energy, however you feel about the activity itself. It might tell you what you need to add or subtract from your life.

by: Christopher

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:53:11 +0000

You do have that superwoman vibe sometimes:-). I’m often in awe of what you’ve accomplished, and also what you’ve inspired others to do beyond your own direct reach.

Then there’s your art/writing skills, which are a whole ‘nother level of wonderful.

Having said that, I understand how it can be hard to find a place that feels like home. Even when I’m where I live now (and have for many years, at this point), I wonder about “coulda, wouldda, shoulda” moments, as far as place having it’s own effects. Nothing like being a tourist in one’s own head, some days.

by: Sylvia

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:28:49 +0000

It strikes me - and I could be way off base here - that your current lifestyle really isn’t allowing you room for creative output. From a complete outsider point of view, it seems that your writing and poetry and self-portraiture have had to take a backseat to everything else and although that may not be avoidable at the moment, it may be increasing your stress levels as that one part of you becomes unfulfilled.

But then again, what do I know. I’m just always happy for what you give for those of us watching from afar.

by: Jill

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 01:57:28 +0000

Oh, am I understanding that sense of homelessness right now. Tahoe isn’t home and while I miss Michigan, it never provided me with that atmosphere of growth that I need.

I do feel at home on one of the summits here and I’m fortunate enough to work up there, but that’s such a tiny place that it’s not enough to anchor me. I can and will live here for the next year or two, but I’m pretty sure this will never be HOME.

That was something I paid a lot of attention to on the way out here — where did I feel I belonged. There was a place in Wyoming that felt so much like home that I almost stayed; I think that’s where I’ll go when it’s time to leave here. We’ll see — I’m learning that the people I love are a huge part of home for me and they may take me somewhere else entirely.

If you ever want to give the Tahoe area a try, you’re more than welcome to visit. It may not be home for me, but it does have a lot to recommend it.

by: Trixie (Not Work Safe)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:41:54 +0000

Damn, that sucks about not feeling at home in Seattle. Personally I don’t think I’d ever feel at home there either and I grew up only a few towns away from there. The only place that DID feel like home to me in a very certain way was Tacoma, specifically the Stadium district. Where we live now IS home (and a great one/perfect fit), but not in the same way Tacoma was for me (like I recognized myself there), even though I’d rather keep living here.

Good luck finding/making home. If another visit to PT would ever do you guys good, we have a spare room you’re welcome to.

When I was a teenager I totally fantasized about living in Austin. I hear you on the water, though.

by: Thai

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:13:50 +0000

I may comment on other stuff later but I have to comment now on your location problems.
I so get where you are coming from. I have lived in Champaign/ Urbana for over ten years now and in Illinois for almost twenty. I still don’t feel at home here. I have lived in over ten different areas of Illinois and I still do not feel at home here. I have tried and tried but never gotten to the point where I do not have at least one wave of homesickness per day. I gave up long ago, I am a New Englander at heart and I will never be anything else. I miss everything about New England from the food to the smell to the truly godawful weather.
I can never move back home though. I have established myself out here and I could never leave my career, my family, or the community I have built for myself. We won’t even get into the fact that I am now me and not my father’s daughter. Or the eastern seaboard’s horrid economy.
This whole thing would depress me out of my head if it were not for the Family I have here. When I come home at night and my two year old nephew crashes hard into my leg (on good days, I won’t say what he hits on bad days other than to comment that he is now too tall to run between my legs) my tea is steeping and it smells so much like home, I somehow forget that Illinois will never look like Rhode Island. I love my job, I love my coven, and most of all I love my family. I cannot take all of these things with me. I guess for me at least, they are enough.
You need to go where there is enough of whatever is important to you. I have found my enough and can live with the rest but I have my priorities, yours are likely very different. What is it that makes the rest okay for you? That is the important part.

Anyway the more minor suggestion I had is simply that if you do not have to stay near population centers for a job you might want to look at ruralizing in Virginia (western side) or West Virginia. It really is possible to find cheap rural rental properties in those areas.