Knock-knock.
Who's there?
(June camping in the parking lot of Liberty Harbor RV Park in Jersey City, New Jersey with the city skyline in the background)
One year ago today, I stepped back from my work here as a creative midwife and the founder of The Footloose Muse, I wasn’t planning to disappear from the public eye; I just knew intuitively that I had nothing left to give this community. The well had run dry. So I trusted the process and waited for the muse to have her way with me For months, my cameras, paints, and pens sat undisturbed. I resigned a coveted membership at a prestigious art gallery; I left a respected weekly writers’ group I’d been honored to attend; I halted my near manic participation in gallery calls for entries.
I pulled back. I waited.
By then, my life had taken a 180-degree turn; Single-by-choice for several decades, I’d reconnected and fallen in love with a man I’d been friends with when my children were still school age. Together, we bought a 20-foot Airstream travel trailer with a Ford-150 pick-up truck, and we hit the open road, embarking on a month-long cross-country adventure that sealed the deal for us as a couple. We got engaged in July, and family and friends rejoiced.
This week, we are tucked safely into the dunes along North Carolina’s heralded Outer Banks. Todd and I have been traveling since the last week of September; we head back to Rhode Island next week to celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving with our kids and grandkids. Next up: Marco Island, Florida until Christmas.
A non-traditional creativity lies at the heart of this lifestyle. Whether traversing our country’s highways and backroads, or parked at a forested campground, each day presents opportunities to create something new—-a travel route, a home-cooked meal, a new friendship. It takes a creative heart to balance family life with extended absences and joyful reunions. It takes a willingness to show up authentically to build a life partnership—-one that doesn’t always work in perfect harmony, but like a photograph or a painting, gets better with practice and processing.
If you’re still out there, drop a comment. I’d love to hear from you.
Carol thank you for sharing your story with us. Wow what a year it’s been. My time shared with you this past20 months has been amazing. Our travels have taken us quite the distance. If I was to sum our time together, especially our travels. This has and is the best experience of my life.you and I have traveled many thousands of miles together. And for me you want to get to know each other, well here it is. Count less days together traveling the open road. What once was a dream in now our life style. The best partner ever, Thank you Carol for finding the real me.
Carol I absolutely envy the turn your life took. Was it always meant to be? like so many other things along the ever-winding road?? I think probably so, even as you could never have imagined it was just around the next corner. Each of your days is a new adventure in just being. A new view of life happening moment by precious moment.