Discernment in Troubled Times: If circumstances are forcing you to move, or to make another momentous decision, how do you know where to look? What to choose?
What a remarkable condensation of how to feel about choosing a place to be home.
I'm fortunate to live in two special places, one of which has been devastated by Hurricane Helene (Asheville, North Carolina). We weren't there, being in Quebec in our home place here.
We will return to Asheville in early November, and I'm steeling myself for the loss of trees, flooding damage along the riverways, etc.
I'm not sure that I can live with that damage, but know that nature is healing.
Lisa, I can only imagine what a shock it will be to see the damage from Hurricane Helene around your beloved place in Asheville, and I appreciate your honesty in saying that you are not sure you can live with that damage. It's not going to be easy, that is for sure. I wonder if one way to think about it is to use a metaphor of a beloved person after a traumatic accident that changed their looks. Would you still love them? I suspect so, even if you had to learn to not shy away at the change. I know a person and a landscape aren't the same, but perhaps that shift in perspective could be helpful.
And thank you so much for your support! Blessings to you and yours.
I hope that there is not too much damage at your place in North Carolina. Being away when such event occur is both good, and not so good, as one worries, not knowing what has happened.
Hello Lisa, I also live here in the Asheville area, in Swannanoa in particular. Much has changed and so much is the same. The severe damage is in pockets throughout the region. Swannanoa was destroyed and it is limping back mostly with clean up and lots of support tents right now. It will be a year or two before it is built back better. But then Oteen looks just the same, as does Black Mountain. You will be shocked by what you see and then you'll be in another area where nothing has changed. It's a bit jarring. I hope your home and community were not damaged. Feel free to reach out when you return. I live on the Warren Wilson College campus.
I like the way you chose your new home. We’re at 7300 feet in Salida, but moving back to our original city of Fort Worth fills me with dread. Our adult children are here, we’re 80and 84, but it was over 90 today!
Cheryl, I can understand how hard it would be to trade Salida for Fort Worth, even with your adult children there and the complexities of aging and travel. One way to think about it is to consider whether you really have to move. After all, assuming they are healthy and mobile, they can come spend time with you in Salida. (And who wouldn't want to do that?) So perhaps there's a way for you to stay in Salida and maybe make it easy for them to visit in whatever way you can. If I were you, I would think really creatively before deciding to move.
So lovely of you to share your process with us. I held my breath while reading, to see what the outcome would be. I am thrilled for you, Susan, that all the pieces fell into place so smoothly. The Universe is looking after you and guiding your heart, methinks. Congratulations on navigating this change so wisely and courageously! I look forward to seeing pix of the new place.
Thank you, Jeanne. I especially appreciate you spending some of your precious internet time on a comment here! I hope that you still have enough propane to run the generator, and the folks with the power poles are making some progress on remaking the grid on your ridge.
As for the process, it has been lightning-fast, a bit bumpy, and very, very stressful. But I remind myself that I have a house and food, I'm not in a hurricane or a flood-damaged valley, and it's all going to work. I will be very, very relieved when the big truck is loaded on the 23rd, and I get Rojita loaded and on the road on the 24th. I want to start putting down roots again.
Mr. Propane never showed up, but we got power 48 hours ago. Wheee!
By the way, I love that your truck is Rojita. Mine is named Blue. She's 25 years old.
This is definitely a lightning-fast move, for sure, and I bet you're up to your ears in boxes already. Good luck with everything! The 24th will be here before you know it!
Power already! Wow. That's fast, and what a luxury! The things we forget we depend on....
Rojita is a youngster compared to your Blue; she's just four now, with way too many miles on her already from my wanderings across the West. But she's a Toyota, so I expect she'll last a long time. And thanks for the good luck and the support. It's grueling, this packing and moving, but I'm excited to be near a river again.
Blue is a Toyota, too. I think you and Rojita will have many happy years (and adventures) together.
Actually, our restoration of power wasn't fast. We were without it for 12, almost 13 days. And no wifi/cell service for most of that time (it went in and out one day).
The best of luck to you in you move. I too love the West, but having grown up inn Yuma, Arizona, I tend toward the south of the west. Interesting that I should so, as I, and almost all of my family, are now living north of the tip of Maine in Washington State! Still, I love the west and have no plans to ever go back east, although I also loved the wildlands in Florida, where I spent five years total and picked up my life partner, Lynda. Like you I like wildl country and although I now live in a city, it has been somewhat mitigated by the large forest and wetlands parks nearby.
Our thoughts are with you, dear friend. Our daughters send their best wishes too!
Thank you, David! Love to you and Lynda, and the amazing young women you raised too.
My home range is narrower than yours, I think, since I am only really "at home" where sagebrush grows. That means I'm a northern westerner, as compared to your preference for the southern west, and I'm definitely not going to be living in Western Washington anytime soon (though my brother and family would love that!). I'm glad you have forest and wetland parks nearby to find solace and inspiration.
You are such a trooper, Susan. Talk about making lemonade! I love that you were able to find “home” so quickly, and I love that you’re back in Colorado. Knowing when to trust your gut as you do is a real gift. May this new home bring you much joy. Sending love,
Susan H, thank you so much. I am looking forward to being back in Colorado and in sagebrush country (Salida, where you visited, is the wrong side of the Continental Divide for big sagebrush), and living near a river again. It's grueling and stressful to make the change, but it's going to be a fruitful one, I think. Hugs to you!
Susan- My husband and I made a lightning fast move last year, too. Once we knew what we wanted the Universe moved , the stars aligned and we were moving before we could realize what was happening. We feel we have come home at last, but the move was stressful and exhausting. I wouldn’t want to do it again! But when I wake up in the morning to the alarm of the Pileated woodpeckers in the massive maple outside my bedroom, I know it was all worth it.
Home. The sweetest word in the English language. And the best feeling in the world. I’m happy you have found yours. Wishing you ease, and strength and resilience through the moving process and joy, joy, joy once you’re there. ❤️
Beth, I am glad you and your spouse found the home you needed, and that it happened quickly if not easily. Moving is just hard, every time! I've moved nine times in the last 11 years, "re-storying" unloved houses across the Rocky Mountain West as I've looked for home. The move here was supposed to be my last, but my lung-heart issues changed that. So I'm hoping this one will be the last! BTW, I smiled at your evocation of the Pileated woodpeckers on the maple tree outside your bedroom--what a wonderful sound to wake to! I remember them from college in southern Illinois many decades ago. Blessings to you!
What a wonderful exercise! This is the 16th house in the seventh city/village I have lived in. I’m thinking now about how I landed in each of them. I’m noticing new things…..what a nice way to recap my life! Thank you!
Ah, the life of a wandering minister.... I'm glad the exercise was a useful way to think back to all of those houses, all of those communities, and your blessings in each one. Hugs to you, Kathryn, in this season of transition and reflection.
The way of listening is a wonderful avenue into clarity. Thank you for describing the process! Already, I am thinking of positives and negatives about where my husband and I live, as we do not intend to spend the rest of our lives here. Our soul-place is much as you have described in the gifts of the land that call home to you.
Good luck on the move. I went through a much similar scenario five years ago when I moved from Montana (sniff, sniff) to central Oregon to be with my now husband. In ten days I packed up all my stuff (you really can lose five pounds in a week!!), sold my place, beat the moving semi to Oregon to be there for unloading, transporting my dog and two cats in an epic two day drive I never want to repeat, and went through the moving in process just a week before leaving for a trip to Portugal. Someday, I will be back in Montana or a place that is similar. I understand whole heartedly your need to stay in the Rocky Mountain west, where the scent of sage permeates all.💚
Jenny, I got dizzy reading your description of moving from Montana to western Oregon. You worked miracles in ten days, and then that drive--ay! It sounds like it was worth it, despite the compromises in leaving your beloved landscape. May you and your honey find your way back to Montana eventually, and may that homecoming be sweet!
Thank you, Susan🧡. Montana will always have my heart. I hope that your new place in Colorado will be fulfilling and you will find your Place in the land. Looking forward to being introduced to her through your impressions and conversations with the Land.
Thanks for the ways to consider a finding new home. It is so complicated to sort it out and daunting to even think about moving after living in our home for 12 years. The stuff we have accumulated! The decisions we must make! We have thought about staying here for now even though I am constantly thinking ahead, so we'll see what lies ahead. Good luck to you on your new journey!
Nancy, It is complicated, but I believe in the power of our intuition to show us the way. Sometimes what we think we need to do isn't actually what we need, and spending time listening within and throwing open the doors of possibility can lead to solutions we wouldn't have otherwise seen. As for that stuff, I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book on Norwegian death-cleaning (which is not about death but about seeing our stuff through the lens of what happens after we are gone). Thanks for the good wishes!
A beautiful newsletter of a challenging process. I loved your two lists - our souls and brains need nature present but aging also has its requirements. As you mentioned, I have been thinking and writing about the best path forward as I age. The past two years I have explored small cities in the PNW (my home range) and housing affordibility has eliminated the majority. For now, I have decided to stay where I am, with one eye looking for a community to elder in. https://suekusch.substack.com/p/a-place-called-home
Sue, I think it's wise of you to stay put for now, because your place gives you so much in support and inspiration. And keeping the door or window of opportunity open offers you the gift of perhaps recognizing opportunities that you hadn't seen before. May the right doors open when you need them!
Susan, You are off on a "moving" adventure ... again! As always, I send you lots of good wishes. You have the ability to create a lovely space to live in and you find friends wherever you go. Your positive attitude helps keep you grounded. Stay well and happy dear friend.
Roberta, thanks for the pun and the chuckle! As you know, this was not my plan, but as you also know, life does not proceed according to our plans! So on I go, and I think this will be a good move for me, even if the process is not at all easy. Thanks for the support and big hugs to you!
I’m so glad you found a home, and I love your description of the discernment process. We’ve moved a lot and the location has always been determined by jobs (and also, whether we wanted to live in, for example, Florida, which we don’t). Nevertheless, there has been a lot of discernment involved. The new place has to feel right. I’m glad the decision was clear and that you have an interim place to stay before you really get to go home.
Emily, It's interesting, isn't it, how much a move we have to make within a certain set of sideboards like jobs or health or family, also of necessity involves some discernment. Even when the specific local is set, there are the questions of neighborhood and dwelling-spaces and community, both human and natural. A few blocks or a few miles can make a huge difference in the character of home, as can the specifics of a dwelling and its surroundings. I agree: No matter the constraints, the new place has to feel right! Blessings to you and yours.
Wonderful, Susan. and your new home looks gorgeous. You will continue your spiritual journey in this incredible location. I'm sure Liz will come to visit you there! And you will be able to breathe!!
Dear Phyllis, Thank you so much, and yes, I will continue my spiritual journey in my new home. And my heart will get a rest from working too hard to try to keep sufficient oxygenated bloom circulating through my body. (That's the biggest issue right now, the signs of stress in my heart.) I don't know that Liz will come visit, but I will return to Santa Fe in January to organize a birthday lunch for her 80th birthday if all works out. :) Hugs to you!
The deliberateness and mindfulness of choosing place; of getting comfortable within place; the evocation of connection and a small sense of belonging; the temple of nature, your temple for sure; the call of cranes and rustling cottonwoods leaves -- all of it so beautifully stated, this song of new longing.
I'm excited for you. Another rich chapter, beginning. Being in a place that you can truly breathe deeply. All the discoveries and earth poetry that await you. Like so many of your friends, I'm here on the sidelines, cheering you on and holding you in my heart.
Can't wait to hear about your new "place." Sending you so much love and goodwill, ~Stephanie
Stephanie, I am honored by your insight and your words. "This song of new longing" is exactly how this move feels to me. Right now, 11 days before the movers arrive, I am a little overwhelmed by all that is ahead. But I also have a wordless faith that his is the right path for me, and that all will be well and all manner of things will be well, to paraphrase Julian of Norwich. Thank you so much for your support and love. Blessings and hugs back to you!
What a remarkable condensation of how to feel about choosing a place to be home.
I'm fortunate to live in two special places, one of which has been devastated by Hurricane Helene (Asheville, North Carolina). We weren't there, being in Quebec in our home place here.
We will return to Asheville in early November, and I'm steeling myself for the loss of trees, flooding damage along the riverways, etc.
I'm not sure that I can live with that damage, but know that nature is healing.
I'm so glad that you found again your place.
Lisa, I can only imagine what a shock it will be to see the damage from Hurricane Helene around your beloved place in Asheville, and I appreciate your honesty in saying that you are not sure you can live with that damage. It's not going to be easy, that is for sure. I wonder if one way to think about it is to use a metaphor of a beloved person after a traumatic accident that changed their looks. Would you still love them? I suspect so, even if you had to learn to not shy away at the change. I know a person and a landscape aren't the same, but perhaps that shift in perspective could be helpful.
And thank you so much for your support! Blessings to you and yours.
I hope that there is not too much damage at your place in North Carolina. Being away when such event occur is both good, and not so good, as one worries, not knowing what has happened.
Hello Lisa, I also live here in the Asheville area, in Swannanoa in particular. Much has changed and so much is the same. The severe damage is in pockets throughout the region. Swannanoa was destroyed and it is limping back mostly with clean up and lots of support tents right now. It will be a year or two before it is built back better. But then Oteen looks just the same, as does Black Mountain. You will be shocked by what you see and then you'll be in another area where nothing has changed. It's a bit jarring. I hope your home and community were not damaged. Feel free to reach out when you return. I live on the Warren Wilson College campus.
I like the way you chose your new home. We’re at 7300 feet in Salida, but moving back to our original city of Fort Worth fills me with dread. Our adult children are here, we’re 80and 84, but it was over 90 today!
Cheryl, I can understand how hard it would be to trade Salida for Fort Worth, even with your adult children there and the complexities of aging and travel. One way to think about it is to consider whether you really have to move. After all, assuming they are healthy and mobile, they can come spend time with you in Salida. (And who wouldn't want to do that?) So perhaps there's a way for you to stay in Salida and maybe make it easy for them to visit in whatever way you can. If I were you, I would think really creatively before deciding to move.
So lovely of you to share your process with us. I held my breath while reading, to see what the outcome would be. I am thrilled for you, Susan, that all the pieces fell into place so smoothly. The Universe is looking after you and guiding your heart, methinks. Congratulations on navigating this change so wisely and courageously! I look forward to seeing pix of the new place.
Thank you, Jeanne. I especially appreciate you spending some of your precious internet time on a comment here! I hope that you still have enough propane to run the generator, and the folks with the power poles are making some progress on remaking the grid on your ridge.
As for the process, it has been lightning-fast, a bit bumpy, and very, very stressful. But I remind myself that I have a house and food, I'm not in a hurricane or a flood-damaged valley, and it's all going to work. I will be very, very relieved when the big truck is loaded on the 23rd, and I get Rojita loaded and on the road on the 24th. I want to start putting down roots again.
Hugs and blessings to you and yours.
Mr. Propane never showed up, but we got power 48 hours ago. Wheee!
By the way, I love that your truck is Rojita. Mine is named Blue. She's 25 years old.
This is definitely a lightning-fast move, for sure, and I bet you're up to your ears in boxes already. Good luck with everything! The 24th will be here before you know it!
Power already! Wow. That's fast, and what a luxury! The things we forget we depend on....
Rojita is a youngster compared to your Blue; she's just four now, with way too many miles on her already from my wanderings across the West. But she's a Toyota, so I expect she'll last a long time. And thanks for the good luck and the support. It's grueling, this packing and moving, but I'm excited to be near a river again.
Blue is a Toyota, too. I think you and Rojita will have many happy years (and adventures) together.
Actually, our restoration of power wasn't fast. We were without it for 12, almost 13 days. And no wifi/cell service for most of that time (it went in and out one day).
The best of luck to you in you move. I too love the West, but having grown up inn Yuma, Arizona, I tend toward the south of the west. Interesting that I should so, as I, and almost all of my family, are now living north of the tip of Maine in Washington State! Still, I love the west and have no plans to ever go back east, although I also loved the wildlands in Florida, where I spent five years total and picked up my life partner, Lynda. Like you I like wildl country and although I now live in a city, it has been somewhat mitigated by the large forest and wetlands parks nearby.
Our thoughts are with you, dear friend. Our daughters send their best wishes too!
Thank you, David! Love to you and Lynda, and the amazing young women you raised too.
My home range is narrower than yours, I think, since I am only really "at home" where sagebrush grows. That means I'm a northern westerner, as compared to your preference for the southern west, and I'm definitely not going to be living in Western Washington anytime soon (though my brother and family would love that!). I'm glad you have forest and wetland parks nearby to find solace and inspiration.
❤️
Thanks, Lynn!
You are such a trooper, Susan. Talk about making lemonade! I love that you were able to find “home” so quickly, and I love that you’re back in Colorado. Knowing when to trust your gut as you do is a real gift. May this new home bring you much joy. Sending love,
Susan
Susan H, thank you so much. I am looking forward to being back in Colorado and in sagebrush country (Salida, where you visited, is the wrong side of the Continental Divide for big sagebrush), and living near a river again. It's grueling and stressful to make the change, but it's going to be a fruitful one, I think. Hugs to you!
Susan- My husband and I made a lightning fast move last year, too. Once we knew what we wanted the Universe moved , the stars aligned and we were moving before we could realize what was happening. We feel we have come home at last, but the move was stressful and exhausting. I wouldn’t want to do it again! But when I wake up in the morning to the alarm of the Pileated woodpeckers in the massive maple outside my bedroom, I know it was all worth it.
Home. The sweetest word in the English language. And the best feeling in the world. I’m happy you have found yours. Wishing you ease, and strength and resilience through the moving process and joy, joy, joy once you’re there. ❤️
Beth, I am glad you and your spouse found the home you needed, and that it happened quickly if not easily. Moving is just hard, every time! I've moved nine times in the last 11 years, "re-storying" unloved houses across the Rocky Mountain West as I've looked for home. The move here was supposed to be my last, but my lung-heart issues changed that. So I'm hoping this one will be the last! BTW, I smiled at your evocation of the Pileated woodpeckers on the maple tree outside your bedroom--what a wonderful sound to wake to! I remember them from college in southern Illinois many decades ago. Blessings to you!
What a wonderful exercise! This is the 16th house in the seventh city/village I have lived in. I’m thinking now about how I landed in each of them. I’m noticing new things…..what a nice way to recap my life! Thank you!
Ah, the life of a wandering minister.... I'm glad the exercise was a useful way to think back to all of those houses, all of those communities, and your blessings in each one. Hugs to you, Kathryn, in this season of transition and reflection.
The way of listening is a wonderful avenue into clarity. Thank you for describing the process! Already, I am thinking of positives and negatives about where my husband and I live, as we do not intend to spend the rest of our lives here. Our soul-place is much as you have described in the gifts of the land that call home to you.
Good luck on the move. I went through a much similar scenario five years ago when I moved from Montana (sniff, sniff) to central Oregon to be with my now husband. In ten days I packed up all my stuff (you really can lose five pounds in a week!!), sold my place, beat the moving semi to Oregon to be there for unloading, transporting my dog and two cats in an epic two day drive I never want to repeat, and went through the moving in process just a week before leaving for a trip to Portugal. Someday, I will be back in Montana or a place that is similar. I understand whole heartedly your need to stay in the Rocky Mountain west, where the scent of sage permeates all.💚
Jenny, I got dizzy reading your description of moving from Montana to western Oregon. You worked miracles in ten days, and then that drive--ay! It sounds like it was worth it, despite the compromises in leaving your beloved landscape. May you and your honey find your way back to Montana eventually, and may that homecoming be sweet!
Thank you, Susan🧡. Montana will always have my heart. I hope that your new place in Colorado will be fulfilling and you will find your Place in the land. Looking forward to being introduced to her through your impressions and conversations with the Land.
Thanks for the ways to consider a finding new home. It is so complicated to sort it out and daunting to even think about moving after living in our home for 12 years. The stuff we have accumulated! The decisions we must make! We have thought about staying here for now even though I am constantly thinking ahead, so we'll see what lies ahead. Good luck to you on your new journey!
Nancy, It is complicated, but I believe in the power of our intuition to show us the way. Sometimes what we think we need to do isn't actually what we need, and spending time listening within and throwing open the doors of possibility can lead to solutions we wouldn't have otherwise seen. As for that stuff, I wholeheartedly recommend reading the book on Norwegian death-cleaning (which is not about death but about seeing our stuff through the lens of what happens after we are gone). Thanks for the good wishes!
A beautiful newsletter of a challenging process. I loved your two lists - our souls and brains need nature present but aging also has its requirements. As you mentioned, I have been thinking and writing about the best path forward as I age. The past two years I have explored small cities in the PNW (my home range) and housing affordibility has eliminated the majority. For now, I have decided to stay where I am, with one eye looking for a community to elder in. https://suekusch.substack.com/p/a-place-called-home
Sue, I think it's wise of you to stay put for now, because your place gives you so much in support and inspiration. And keeping the door or window of opportunity open offers you the gift of perhaps recognizing opportunities that you hadn't seen before. May the right doors open when you need them!
I am expanding my slow search to the Rocky Mountains. Sadly, the PNW has become unaffordable. May have to check out Montrose!
Susan, You are off on a "moving" adventure ... again! As always, I send you lots of good wishes. You have the ability to create a lovely space to live in and you find friends wherever you go. Your positive attitude helps keep you grounded. Stay well and happy dear friend.
Roberta, thanks for the pun and the chuckle! As you know, this was not my plan, but as you also know, life does not proceed according to our plans! So on I go, and I think this will be a good move for me, even if the process is not at all easy. Thanks for the support and big hugs to you!
I’m so glad you found a home, and I love your description of the discernment process. We’ve moved a lot and the location has always been determined by jobs (and also, whether we wanted to live in, for example, Florida, which we don’t). Nevertheless, there has been a lot of discernment involved. The new place has to feel right. I’m glad the decision was clear and that you have an interim place to stay before you really get to go home.
Emily, It's interesting, isn't it, how much a move we have to make within a certain set of sideboards like jobs or health or family, also of necessity involves some discernment. Even when the specific local is set, there are the questions of neighborhood and dwelling-spaces and community, both human and natural. A few blocks or a few miles can make a huge difference in the character of home, as can the specifics of a dwelling and its surroundings. I agree: No matter the constraints, the new place has to feel right! Blessings to you and yours.
So, so true!
Wonderful, Susan. and your new home looks gorgeous. You will continue your spiritual journey in this incredible location. I'm sure Liz will come to visit you there! And you will be able to breathe!!
Dear Phyllis, Thank you so much, and yes, I will continue my spiritual journey in my new home. And my heart will get a rest from working too hard to try to keep sufficient oxygenated bloom circulating through my body. (That's the biggest issue right now, the signs of stress in my heart.) I don't know that Liz will come visit, but I will return to Santa Fe in January to organize a birthday lunch for her 80th birthday if all works out. :) Hugs to you!
Thank you for this, Susan 🤍
Victoria, Thank you for reading and for your presence here. Many blessings to you!
The deliberateness and mindfulness of choosing place; of getting comfortable within place; the evocation of connection and a small sense of belonging; the temple of nature, your temple for sure; the call of cranes and rustling cottonwoods leaves -- all of it so beautifully stated, this song of new longing.
I'm excited for you. Another rich chapter, beginning. Being in a place that you can truly breathe deeply. All the discoveries and earth poetry that await you. Like so many of your friends, I'm here on the sidelines, cheering you on and holding you in my heart.
Can't wait to hear about your new "place." Sending you so much love and goodwill, ~Stephanie
Stephanie, I am honored by your insight and your words. "This song of new longing" is exactly how this move feels to me. Right now, 11 days before the movers arrive, I am a little overwhelmed by all that is ahead. But I also have a wordless faith that his is the right path for me, and that all will be well and all manner of things will be well, to paraphrase Julian of Norwich. Thank you so much for your support and love. Blessings and hugs back to you!