row, 2011Do you ever just feel like running away? Boarding a plane or train and hoping your destination feels right? Jumping into a small boat and rowing until you end up where you belong?
Where you belong. Is there such a place?
Perhaps you are already there.
I must be where I belong, because although I may joke about it I actually have no desire to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe certainty must feel good.
DeleteI could stare at that photo forever (it's gorgeous Denise), and it looks near a place I'm thinking of escaping to today if it's not too wet.
ReplyDeleteAnd to answer your post question, definitely yes. Near and far.
It is a great escape.
DeleteYes I do. My latest fantasy involves living in a long string of cities just long enough to feel like a local, to slip into the way of life in that particular spot, then to move on to the next, until my wanderlust has been extinguished and then I'll come back home...
ReplyDeleteExciting. Tempting.
Deletei'm more of a facer than runner-awayer. but yes, sometimes, those times sneak up on me. then i look to the horizon.
ReplyDeletei'm not where i belong... yet.
Maybe we belong in different places, at different times in our lives.
Deleteit's funny you posted this. the other day I was talking to a friend and I said that before I was always running away with my backpack because everything I owned could fit into that backpack... roots have grown from my feet and it's becoming more and more difficult to run away... I was telling myself that those must have been my best days until now. If I could I would live 3/4 years on a city and then leave... if that could be possible that should be my best way of belonging !
ReplyDeleteA balance of town and country always seems a nice idea, to me.
DeleteI was running away from many years. It's how I strayed so far from home and traveled so much. I was running from things and I knew it. Now, even despite my constant fear of Roman's breakdowns (getting better at dealing with them!) I don't want to run away- I could never run away from my responsibilities anyway, but I do feel I am right where I want to be right now. (And that's not necessarily spatial, it's just circumstantial.)
ReplyDeleteYour running is part of who you are, and it seems you turned out quite well.
DeleteI am here now and it is a perfect fit:-)
ReplyDeletexo jane
I get that impulse regularly... I think about where else my family might live a more interesting, educational, or fulfilling life. Then, when I think about all the factors, I can't think of anywhere else I'd like us to be. But I know I'll continue to wonder.
ReplyDeleteWe are quite happy here, most of the time, but we still wonder, often.
DeleteMy husband and I visited that question when we were going through bankruptcy and our house was being foreclosed. We realized that losing "everything" (in the conventional financial sense) was really very freeing. We asked ourselves, if we could live anywhere, where would we want to live? Of course, it had to be somewhere where we could live cheaply, have ready access to affordable organic foods (that is, co-ops and farmers' markets), with lots of green space, and bicycle friendly. And that's when we realized that we already lived in the best possible place for us (Minneapolis). And so we are still here.
ReplyDeleteOften it is during the most challenging times that we see our priorities so clearly.
DeleteDenise: yes... as you were posting this post I run away with my boys in the woods (camping, hiking, biking, nature watching)...there are so many of them around us, at just 30 to 60 minutes of a drive: no excuse to stay. More than that, sometimes, during the week, I run away in my library or in the backyard, equipped with a book or my camera...and that works pretty well as an escape. And if that does not work...then I do have to find a different way of living my life and change what needs to be changed. I think we have options, but we have to want to see them. I do get stuck too sometimes, thinking there is no escape, and then I have to sit down and remind myself of the various escape routes...
ReplyDeleteGreat point, Amelia. There are so many mini-escape options to embrace.
DeleteI don't think there is a place I belong so much as there are people I belong with.
ReplyDeletei do get those feelings. been having them this week. dreaming of the south again. but today, we had really warm weather and cool breezes and it felt right.
ReplyDeleteSuch feelings do certainly depend on the day, and are so often linked to the weather.
DeleteI run away to your blog. Seriously.
ReplyDeleteAnd then your wonderful images and words take me to places in my memory, places with mountains and trees and rivers, where I know I belong.
Oh, wow. That is wonderful to know.
DeleteYes, quite often. Very often. I'd not included a row boat in the scenario and see now that I will have to. Like Ratty on the riverbank, I'll see where it is I end up and what faces I meet on the way.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about Ratty. Where can I learn more?
DeleteYes. Always. I have a thing about maps and often open the atlas just to wonder again at all those places to see. Realising there is nowhere I don't want to go is a challenge. Having a child has anchored me somewhat but that impulse to flight and to exploration is strong. I'm looking forward to showing him the world.
ReplyDeleteHe's lucky to have such an adventurous mother.
DeleteI do think about this often ...
ReplyDelete... but I think I belong within sight of that bay, and have know it for a long time.
I know I need to see it often, it is like fuel.
DeleteI think I am where I belong... but there is always this restlessness - sneaky, yearning, dormant perhaps at times, but always there. For me.
ReplyDeleteI've missed you, Denise. I find I want to be present in my life (the brick and mortar one), but I come to your space now and then, and for a few moments, gently row away. (Or perhaps I just float peacefully in the quiet?) I wanted to say hi today, even if I rarely ever do these days...
Know I think of you often and although I don't generally write notes these days, I read your beautiful words when I visit. And I find quiet peace. Thank you.
xoox,
-me
Maria. Hello. So happy to see you, know you quietly visit every now and again, and that you feel you are where you belong. Take care.
Deleteyes...often...not because I don't like where I am...but sometimes the thought of going somewhere alone where there is space and time and an almost nothingness comes over me and I wonder....
ReplyDeleteI think I know what you mean. I like that sort of space as well and often take a little time alone, around my birthday, to escape and feel the quiet.
Delete