Yesterday I sat down on a snowy March day, to catch up here. I started writing about the winter and how I chose this year to spend 25 days of it in warmth. Right about that time the power went off and stayed off for 16 hours. Sweet irony as winter wanted to be sure I felt it. It would not be ignored no matter how many beaches I walked on.
Basically, I have flipped my life over. It feels like turning over a rug full of color and there is a totally different pattern and texture underneath. We sold our house of 15 years. We put it on the market and in five days it was sold. I say five days, but it took months of sorting and donating until we were ready to put it on the market.
Late fall we started coming up with a plan. We called it the "no plan" plan. We would sell the house and then find a place to rent just up the river about 20 minutes and a state away. We love Lambertville, NJ, a little river town full of art galleries, book stores, restaurants and coffee shops. It is quirky and quaint.
The "no plan" meant there was a short period of groundlessness; of not knowing where we would be living. I believed once we were ready to find a place to call home, that home would find us.
One week from today we start slowly moving in. And it is just right and exactly what I asked the universe for. When I was on a birthday adventure in Bermuda with a friend this winter, I worked for days on a vision board altered book. I focused on how my new life would feel. How our bedroom would feel. I saw high ceilings and plaster walls. I could see my myself sitting down and having coffee in cozy outdoor spaces. I added all the visuals with a few words on holiday and I have been adding in more intentions a bit at a time.
It was the outdoor space that won our hearts. There is a large balcony off our tiny bedroom. And the porches! It has a screened in teak porch (with a trap door!) filled with wicker furniture and so many hooks for ferns and flowers. And then a back porch off the the kitchen that leads to a brick patio. It is on the canal. I so excited to ride my bike on the towpath, my basket filled with goodies from town.
This move is a perfect pause as we figure out our next move. We both imagine some kind of tiny home by the sea. And/or a boat we live on down the shore. I am okay with not knowing all the details right now.
Last night in the dark as I felt my away around this home I know so well, I could not help but think that if the power goes out in our next nest, I will not be able to navigate that quickly. There are stairs that are narrow. And angles that are unfamiliar. I am excited and ready to move slowly as I learn that old brick house.
I have always found change exciting. But it is hard too. Our daughter and son, on the edges of 20 and 23, can feel the ground shift under them as we leave this family home.
The travel I did this winter was baby steps toward this move. There was a trust that I had the right plan in place so that my business would run without me doing everything. And also a trust that my children would be more than fine on their own.
This move is about letting go and reaching out. I want to travel with less. Less of everything. And more of what I absolutely love. No more room for the chairs I don't sit in or the sweaters I haven't worn in two years. Woks and pancake grills are gone as a cast iron pan does everything I need it to.
I have this vision of going to Habitat for Humanity Restore and furnishing our apartment. Then donating it all when we move. Just taking a few of the pieces we love.
"I love how the would found old fits in with our old. So much less baggage these days.". Yes exactly!
The tape transfer that is over the bed says "Apartment where literally nothing is new".
Yet everything will be new. New views. New ideas. New art. New patterns.
I will try to check in here more to let to write in more detail about this new adventure. You will find me daily on Instagram. It is my favorite place to show up. as I post on the day to day of my life...my art, my studio, this move, etc.
So I must go...lots of studio catch up, orders to ship, and emails to answer. A tiny price for the warmest winter ever.
Oh....please do share if this year is bringing about changes for you too. I would love to hear!
xoxox.