Sea Change…Life Change
A dear friend of mine recently bought a house of her own. It has been a long time coming. Two years earlier, she let go of her rental house in the city suburbs of New York, put her favorite things in storage, filled her car with essential belongings, slid the cat crate onto the front seat, and drove off to Maine to rent a small cottage by the sea. I was never more proud of her than in that moment when she called to tell me the news. She had been thinking of making a change for some time; she knew she needed it. Single, divorced, empty nester to two daughters, frustrated with the dating game and wanting to establish her own creative practice, she made that now or never call. It turns out she called it just right. For two years, she rode out the seasons and the pandemic on a small island town with a population of 300 in winter and much more in the summer. I visited her once and was so overwhelmed by the beauty and charm of her seaside life I wondered if she would ever leave. I call this period in her life her “sea change,” moving from the city to the coast to connect with the healing powers of the sea.
Over the last six months, I could sense another change coming. For all its stunning beauty, her cottage was several hours’ drive from her daughters. While the solitude of the winter months was a welcome escape from summer tourists, she missed being part of a wider community. At 65, she was ready to buy a home of her own. She found a small house in New York, an area she was familiar with. The place is similar in style and atmosphere to her home in Maine. I tell her in those two years; she has reinvented herself not once but twice, giving herself room to grow and flourish in her personal and professional life.
To say I admire my friend and her choices in life is an understatement; I know it did not come easy to her, and it wouldn’t for most people. She deliberated for quite a while, and then, one day, she was off.
How often do we talk about our dreams, referring to that big bucket list that sits somewhere in our files. Years ago, I set a goal to travel to 50 countries in my lifetime without double dipping. Each trip has to be new. Australia counts once, even though I have flown in and out at least 30 times. We traveled to Portugal last year allowing me to inch up to 49 countries. I have one more country to go to, and it has to be somewhere special. I am thinking of Iceland or perhaps Sweden. I suggest these two countries to Mr. H due to the number of Nordic noir murder mysteries we watch on TV. A little morbid, I know, but I am fascinated by both.
Last week we were walking on an isolated trail, and I remarked, “This is a great spot for a crime scene.” Mr. H looked at me as I said, “Where do you think they would hide the body?” My daughter was with us, and I know she was thinking that mom and dad need to get out a little more often, preferably away from countries where they can only think about murder mysteries. The challenge for me is Mr. H has traveled to far more countries than I have, which knocks out a few on my bucket list. We toss around the idea of going to Antarctica but I feel motion sickness coming on by the time I get to the second syllable in the word.
The destination is still to be determined, and of course, once I hit 50 countries, I will have to raise the bar. Sixty in my lifetime? It has a nice ring to it.
Or perhaps a sea change, now that sounds interesting, but could we part with the wooded landscape we have grown to love? I will save that thought for another day.
How about you, do you dream of a “sea change”, a move to the coast? Or perhaps a “tree change” moving to a rural landscape in the woods.
We can all dream…until one day, we pack our bags and just do it!
#beginagainwriting25
June Writing Series, 25 fo 30
