Wondering — what am I doing here?
I’m at a service station in Bonham, TX.
How did I end up here? I used to have a life. A beautiful condo decorated precisely how I wanted, tons of plants, TV with Netflix and Prime, and Alexa to help me turn things on and off, remind me of appointments, and change my lamp lighting to any color I wanted (I felt so high-tech!).
I had a job! And an address!
But after intentionally leaving Phoenix, AZ, after losing my lease and my new job all in the same week, I’ve been on the road ever since, searching for a place to live since last October.
The longer I’m on the road, the less interested I am in finding that place and the more interested I am in exploring new places.
Such a conundrum…
So here I am in Bonham, TX, for the second time in six months, far from what I used to call home, waiting for my car to be stripped of all-wheel drive to become front-wheel drive because Mazda made it impossible to buy one little bushing without having to purchase a whole new $5000 drive-train.
And I’ve taken some fantastic photos and seen some fabulous places.
Tony Robbins shared something his young son said after asking him what he wanted to get out of going away to camp, and his son replied, “I just want to do cool things and meet new people.”
That says it all.
And I’m not complaining. I’m staying at a cute little cabin on a lake that my best friend has offered her temporarily homeless friend - how bad is that? I sit on the porch in the morning overlooking a forest and lake and drink my coffee to the sound of birds. It’s peaceful and green here, with occasional storms. So I’ll go outside in the afternoons and listen to the rain and thunder, watch the lightning, and think, how lucky am I? I haven’t been in a real storm with rain and thunder in ages! And I love it.
And what better writing environment than this?
My next stop is Galveston, just because I’ve never been. I’m staying at a horse therapy ranch to visit a woman I met on the phone through WorkAway, and she invited me to stay a night or two. She’s thinking about moving out of the country and has traveled frequently to South America, and we found that we have a lot in common.
I can’t wait to see Galveston, and I love horses (she even suggested I might ride on the beach while visiting). How cool is that? It’s a nice stop on my way to New Orleans to meet a friend, then Pascagoula, MI, for a work event, then on to Asheville, N.C., for another WorkAway stay on a small ranch taking care of two horses and a dog. I’ll be checking Asheville out as a possible place to live.
After that, I’m fresh out of ideas.
So, I’ve lined up a few adventures, at least for the near future.
One conversation I’ve been having lately is with women my age (I just turned 60 last September) who are thinking of banding together to create a cohesive community to eventually share the trials of getting older together for those who don’t want to end up alone.
It would be about communal living, sharing expenses, helping each other, and having fun — a throwback from the Golden Girls.
Think tiny homes, a communal TV area, a kitchen space, a place to play ping pong, pool, or other games. I’ve even thought it would be nice to have a community animal rescue on site so that everyone could get their animal love while helping animals, too — something so many of us would love to do.
But for now, my life isn’t too bad even though I have no home or job. So besides that minor caveat and the fact that my car was in the shop, I’m doing ok.
This is just another adventure in a life full of twists and turns that can sometimes have my head spinning. My main job at the moment is to stay positive and keep writing! After all, the world is full of opportunities, and you never know what good things lie ahead.
I’ve learned that all we have in the face of life’s challenges is a positive outlook, faith, and confidence in the best possible outcome.
And to trust our inner voice.
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