Sitting Still

Stability appears to be the first thing people are willing to jettison when they are thinking about the life they want. At least according to the poll here that is just finishing. This surprises me as we (we the people) seem to spend a great deal of our lives preparing for stability. We go to college - often, to get a job that keeps us stable. We have a family and then don't travel because of the kids. We buy a house with a big mortgage which keeps us in one place. So, what's the story here?

In my life, I partially (I don't do anything much for just one reason) set out on this stable path to prove I could do it. Most of my life, I was a drifter, a vagrant of life. I moved from state to state and job to job, never settling in one place for long. I liked that life on a lot of levels - full of adventure, lots of stimuli, never boring. It had its stressors...for example, it's expensive to keep setting up household over and over again. Making friends and leaving them wasn't always fun. Overall though, the life was exciting and enjoyable. However, it was the only kind of life I had ever led. I didn't know if I was doing it from choice or because I couldn't do any other kind of life. Becoming stable for 7 years now has allowed me to get a lot accomplished. I could concentrate on moving forward instead of just moving. Now, I've proved that I can do BOTH kinds of living and I am choosing to uproot again.

Last year, I was looking through old photos to send to my son. I stumbled upon some of my parents around the time of my birth. With a shock, I realized that my first home was a 12 foot travel trailer and my parents car was a VW bus. I was conceived on a road trip. My fathers oft-stated goal in life was to "be a gypsy". Is it any wonder I can't stay still?

I intend to have the best of both worlds. I will move about at will but will carry AAA. I will have itinerant jobs and a good retirement plan. I will have a laptop with which to keep up with my friends and family and I will take my partner with me.
It took 7 years of sitting still to find this happy medium. I'm okay with that.

Why are you sitting still?