{"id":1573,"date":"2018-09-11T16:18:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-11T23:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.no-destination.org\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2018-09-11T19:02:48","modified_gmt":"2018-09-12T02:02:48","slug":"finding-home-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.no-destination.org\/index.php\/2018\/09\/11\/finding-home-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"“Finding Home Tour”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been calling this the \u201cFinding Home Tour,\u201d but that\u2019s bullshit.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Hart Mountain Antelope Wildlife Refuge, Oregon)<\/a><\/h6>\n

You don\u2019t \u2018find home\u2019, you \u2018make a home\u2019. You may find yourself<\/a> in a location that you chose, or maybe you ended up there because you followed someone 15 years ago, or it was where you went to college and you stayed, maybe you live in your hometown, or you got a job offer, or maybe you closed your eyes and put your finger on a map. Regardless, you found a house or apartment, and you stayed in that town. Over time, you formed connections and friendships with people. You got to know where are the good restaurants to eat, and where to take your car to get repaired. After a while, you established relationships with a dentist, a doctor, a few grocery store clerks that you see regularly. You know good roads to ride, and enjoy weekends with friends camping and riding your motorcycles.<\/p>\n

One day you look up and realize that you created a home for yourself.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s <\/em>how it works.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Hart Mountain Antelope Wildlife Refuge, Oregon)<\/a><\/h6>\n

A phrase that I often turn to is \u201cdon\u2019t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.\u201d I have to remind myself of this often because I tend to look for the \u2018just right\u2019. Many years ago I promised myself that I wouldn\u2019t settle for \u2018well, it\u2019s okay\u2019, but that I would require passion and fulfillment in my life. The problem with that though, is it takes a lot of energy! Also, life is a series of fulfilling things – also with boredom, confusion, tragedy, discontent, illness, exhaustion, fun, hilarity, and so much more. People who \u2018find their passion\u2019 are lucky, but they also have boredom, confusion etc. And unlike all those memes would have you think \u2013 you can\u2019t really go out and \u2018find your passion\u2019. Obviously, you aren\u2019t working hard enough to find it\u2026<sarcasm><\/em> But it doesn\u2019t work like that, and the people saying so are pulling an enormous guilt trip on you, as if it\u2019s your fault that you can\u2019t find it. Your passion will find you,<\/em> and usually totally on accident. Just like the idea of \u201cfinding home\u201d is ridiculous, so is \u201cfinding your passion\u201d. The harder you look for these things, the more elusive they become.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Spencer Hot Springs, Nevada)<\/h6>\n

So, what is a woman with two dogs and a camper to do? I have a list of criteria for a new home base, and I don\u2019t think my home-requirements are unrealistic. I\u2019ll let you be the judge.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Community: My people have always been important to me. I remember getting in fights in high school with my mom when she wouldn\u2019t let me visit with friends. Even though community has always been important to me, I think maybe meeting new people and making friends came so easily for me, I didn\u2019t value those relationships in a way that would have made me re-think moving away. Over the past many years, I\u2019ve realized how vital those friendships are to me.<\/li>\n
  2. Future-proof for climate change: I\u2019m not totally on board with this one, because while it\u2019s a smart thing to have on this kind of a list, my love for the South West might over-rule this one. I\u2019ve studied maps and looked at how our dismal future looks and no where looks great. I thought the Pacific North West would be the smart move, but the dry months get drier, and the wet months get wetter making for difficult to grow. Top soils get unusable, wild fires, earthquakes. Of course, the South West won\u2019t have water. We\u2019ll end up like (that city in south Africa. That was just a test run, you realize. That\u2019ll be the norm all over the place soon enough) When I was 19, I watched a movie called \u201cKoyaanisqatsi”<\/a>  It means \u201cLife out of balance\u201d. That\u2019s us.
    \nAnd on that chipper note, I\u2019ll move on to #3.<\/li>\n
  3. Not a huge city. Chicago was too big. I lived there for 8 years and had some good times, but it took hours to escape past the sprawl. When I was a kid, I promised myself I wouldn\u2019t live in a place where I couldn\u2019t see the stars. Well, I\u2019ve broken that promise to myself many times over. I don\u2019t now need to live in a place with starry skies, just a town small enough where it\u2019s super easy to get to them.<\/li>\n
  4. Then there are the little things, both what I\u2019d like in the immediate and for my future: I\u2019d like a garage, space for the dogs, something like 5 acres of land, a friend or two who knows how to play acoustic guitar and likes to go camping, a partner – a Mickey to my Mallory, Danny to my Sandy, Christian to my Satine,  a town with some culture…art, theater….<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019ve been calling this the \u201cFinding Home Tour,\u201d but that\u2019s bullshit. (Hart Mountain Antelope Wildlife Refuge, Oregon) You don\u2019t \u2018find home\u2019, you \u2018make a home\u2019. You may find yourself in a location that you chose, or maybe you ended up there because you followed someone 15 years ago, or it was where you went to college and you stayed, maybe you live in your hometown, or you got a job offer, or maybe you closed your eyes and put your…<\/p>\n

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