Wishing ....

Please know as I write this post today, that I am eternally grateful for all that I have. An amazing and eclectic family (we are NOT boring at all!), a career I could have never dreamt of having (but it fell in my lap and I cherish it daily), a beautiful country to live in (how did we get so lucky to live in Canada?), a sweet little cottage to live in (that we designed and are still amazed we're out in the woods in a beautiful area), an abundance of extended family and a small circle of friends. Good health, though this week we're both still battling chest infections so yeah, we're not 100% but almost better. So why would I put up a graphic that says "Wishing" you may wonder. Because despite all of this, I'm human and on occasion, I wonder what life would be like if I could live in paradise? What would it be like to wake up to ocean waves each day? To rare snow and the sunniest place in our country, all year round? To growing flowers and veggies, all year round? To live minimally, simply, because out here, that is how life works? This is the "Wishing" I'm doing while we temporarily become Islanders on our favorite little rock in the world. This is a true, heavenly paradise, to us.

Can you imagine having this view every night when you sit outside on the veranda? I love my view at home but it's missing the sea! And during the long Winter months when snow crowds our landscape, we don't get too many chances to sit out on the veranda watching the sun set. To spend the day in the garden, harvesting year round lavender, then trekking in to town for an organically grown dinner, or stopping at the Farmer's Market to pick up yummy snacks, homegrown, and not just once a week. To live where there is passion all the time, not just with issues but true community spirit. We often feel like we're the only ones who speak up and out, but here, everyone is an activist, a realist. You have to choose to live on an island as it does have it's downside, so there are things you give up. 

We didn't move out here when we were 18 because we knew a family was going to be a top priority for us and having family close by was key to our survival at the time. Yes, we would have built family out here but we also both did our post secondary in our late 20's and at the time, before Internet, there was no way to get a uni education on this tiny island. That would have meant a move to the mainland and having lived in Greater Vancouver, it wouldn't have been the best choice then. So we stayed landlocked, where we had no Provincial Sales Tax, amazing supports, clean living, great paying careers, fantastic schooling for both our kids as well as ourselves, and opportunities that wouldn't have existed on an island. No regrets for staying. 

But now each time we visit our rock, we wonder "could we now live out here?" and the answer is always a move closer to yes. Not yet, as we're still both immersed in our work. And we're not done that part of our life just yet. However, we can still dream and explore so when the time is right, when the pieces fall in to place, when the Universe opens the possibility up further, we'll be ready. We know which side of the island we'd want to live on, having stayed in a number of different locations to see where the best sunsets are, where the best roads are, etc. We know which market we like the best, which book store, where to buy my art supplies, who stocks "Country Living ~ the British Edition", who carries my favorite ginger ale, who makes the best cranberry chicken ciabatta buns for lunch and when the fireworks go off on Canada Day. We know who runs the photography club and when they have their shows. And what to expect from the local theatre, Artspring. We know how the ER works here (yes, I've had a visit) and who to call if the Internet isn't working. We know that if the snow falls, the island stops, everyone stays home and if you need something, residents will respond with care and kindness. We're not yet ready to give up our family time, our work and our lives in our landlocked home but we can see maybe even buying a small cottage out here, overlooking the ocean and go back and forth, in time, when we can afford it, likely after selling our current home and using those funds for this dream. For now, it's an amazing place to visit and fit in, a place to write, paint, draw and dream, a place to go beyond our expectations and explore things we've not had a chance to do at home. We feel so fortunate to have both the current dream and the future dream and in time, the "Wishing" will become reality. A great wish to have!

Do you ever wish for another life experience?

Or are you content with life as it is now?

I'd love to hear about your wishes and dreams.

And hope you'll share here with all of us ....

~ Chy