The Final Post

We Are Home….

I honestly didnt know until this morning what this final blog post was going to say.  I didnt know what my words or feelings would be as I sat to record these final impressions of a life changing 6 year odyssey.  To be honest, I have been digesting the impact of this new reality for the past 4 months since we shipped Gratitude back “home” to Florida in April and Jack, Alec and I flew home

(A small detour here: We opted for the shipping route because Jacks first day of school was August 12 and there was little chance we would have made it across by then.  Hindsight 20\20, Im so grateful to Alec for always seeing the pitfalls in my “of course we can” enthusiasm.   Alec rightly acknowledged the many hurdles we had between living in Europe on Gratitude and living in our home in Florida which was in the midst of renovation.  He also anticipated the Herculean effort in returning us and our child to “normal” life including school, summer experiences, and a house covered in dirt and dust.). But I digress…   

All of this is to say that the past 4 months have been very full and without much time to let the transition soak in. 

 Jack began school this week and with that newfound time on my hands, the words showed up this morning and I know what this final missive must say. 

When one decides to take a detour off the path of “typical”,  it is nearly impossible to emerge from the experience the same person.  I think on so many levels, this is why one makes that choice.  I think there is a yearning inside; a call of the alternate, that demands to be experienced. 

So returning to life as you left it becomes impossible.  What one does then is to return to the same house perhaps, the same city maybe, but re-enters with a new set of standards or what I consider to be the “gifts” of our experience.  

Whether we actually continue the growth on the  path that we began, only time will tell.  But what I’d like to share with you,  those who have been on the journey with us from the beginning, but especially those who are considering their own alternate life experience,  are some of the greatest lessons that we have learned a long the way. 

1)      God is everywhere.  There have been moments in the past 5 years that I have needed to feel the presence of God and there he was.  I have prayed on passage in the darkest nights and felt peace.  I have seen the face of God in the sunrise, and the sunset and in the face of people who worship in mosques, synagogues, churches or on the hilltop or in the Ganges River.    Religion can be the truest path to finding God, but it can equally be the worst.  There are many paths to God.  Find yours. 

2)     We dont need most of what we have.  When you live life in roughly the space that most college students live, you quickly discover that “stuff” is an anchor more than a help.  When you have no access to Amazon or Target, you learn even faster that what you once thought you “needed” was nothing more than a sucker of time, talent and\or  resources.    Go on a spending freeze (a legit – no spending money on anything except what comes from the farmers market, dairy, bakery or coffee shop (Im not an animal!)  – for a month and you will come close to seeing what I mean.  Choose experiences, not stuff.

3)     Where you place your attention expands.  This is such a big deal.  If you focus on what is lacking, lacking is what shows up in your life.  If you instead focus on abundance, I promise, everywhere you look you will see abundance.  Perhaps you will have a re-ordering of your priorities along the way but you will have more of what you focus on, good or bad.  A dear friend (Lizzie) asked me, “Laurie, how are you?  I’ve been so worried about you since you have been back?”.  I asked her why was she worried? And she told me, “because you loved Europe and your life so much, I thought you were going to be miserable when you returned”.  This sentence demonstrates clearly this principle.  I thought for a moment and said, well, yes, its true I loved the experience I had everywhere I went, but that isn’t to say there weren’t huge challenges that I dont have to experience now that I am home.   Wherever I am, I always look for the thing I love the most in the experience, not the thing that is causing me the most discomfort.  There is a downside to every single decision you make in life.  Every decision comes at the cost of a road not taken.  Don’t focus on what is missing.  Focus on the many blessings all around you and joy will come your way.  Which leads me to the most frequently asked question every time we met someone who discovered what we were doing.  “What is your favorite place?  This is going to sound trite but I swear to you dear reader (thanks Bridgerton), it is true.  My favorite place of over 30+ counties in 6 years was the place in which I was standing.  There is one exception to this – but for that one exception, in each new destination, I loved most the place I was standing. 

4)     You are growing or shrinking constantly.  It is up to you in what direction you want to move.  My husband’s bff Chip once marveled at how nearly every 10 years I seem to toss everything in my life up in the air and re-invent myself and\or surroundings based on where things land.  Well, probably it isn’t quite that drastic but it is true.  I spent my 20s as a flight attendant, my 30s developing my pilot career (and getting married), I spent my 40s in my dream job as a pilot with Southwest Airlines.   A couple of months before my 44th birthday, I delivered our now 14 year old son Jack and embarked on motherhood and then in my 50s I retired to live on a boat and travel around the world.  I have had so many amazing opportunities in my life, for certain, I’m blessed.  But I have been co-creating this life with God and I’m constantly growing.  There is no question that I’m making some changes now that I’m back home.  I’m trying to be very intentional about my time and with whom I share my energy.  I know that being around narrow people with  judgemental hearts can affect my world view (or at a minimum my day).  I know also that sharing time with people who have different views then myself will cause me to constantly re-consider and grow in my position and knowledge.  I know that the media  I choose to consume affects my point of view – (or at a minimum my day).  I know that when I listen to the echo-chamber of news outlets whose only job is to entertain, I will leave with less energy than I started.  I know that the books I read, the people I surround myself with and the energy I expend on projects will 100% determine who I become in the next decade. 

So as I begin the next phase of my life, uncertain of where I will go, I’m sure that the direction I head will  largely be informed by the places I have been, the people I’ve met, and the friends and family I’m blessed to have.    For now, I’m going focus on being Jack’s mom and Alec’s wife.  I’m going to export the blog into a written document to share with Jack when we send him off to college in 5 years, and I’m going to be standing by, patiently waiting for the next worthy enterprise to sweep me away.

Below is a final assortment of photos taken from our summer which I wanted to include in the blog.  We had the privilege of a final farewell Gratitude trip to the Bahamas with friends, we enjoyed friends whom we met in Turkiye when they came to see us and we all went to Universal Studios.  We made tons of home improvements and we have prepared a plot in our back yard for a garden.