What would it be like to live on the west coast? This has been in the back of my mind ever since a psychic suggested a few years ago that getting off the east and going west would be a better fit for me. I ignored his suggestion as impossible to conceive of. I was born east and raised a family here. It is home. But, is it the place that continues to nourish my soul? As I evolve and let go of material possessions and static views of myself, I am more open to the possibility of living differently. I want to consciously create my life, not just go along with a familiar paradigm of the past. Is it still working for me? Would a different place resonate more deeply with whom I have become and what I want to bring into my life?
I decided to find out. Last week, I took a trip with one of my daughters to Santa Barbara, Ojai and San Diego in southern California to investigate. As we spent time in each destination, I felt that I could not see myself living there. Things were looking dim, but even if I found that nowhere felt right for me the trip would have been a success. Gathering information would help me to make an informed decision.
Our last stop was Santa Fe. As soon as I got off the airplane, I felt the freshness of the air and power of the mountains. We met people who seemed to embrace quirkiness and holistic living. We drove around the town and outlying areas, from the balloon festival in Albuquerque to hot springs in Ojo Caliente to the Rio Grande on our way to the spectacular Jemez Mountains. The view around each bend was more majestic than the previous one. The land was beautiful in its honesty…dry and arid, making no excuses, untouched. Sparsely populated. Dusty dryness. Rushing river. Broad, dotted vistas. Red rocks jutting forth from the earth. Natural clay, manna for the artist. And, above all, silence. Huge, precious silence.
This new land holds promise for me. Do I have the courage to leave everything and everyone that I know to make a new life that supports and honors who I have become?
