Today we are close to the end of week 12 of cabin life and I anticipate we will be here another week or two. Our life here is simple. We have a few of our personal belongings with us. We shop for food every couple of days. We go to the laundromat once a week. We are following Benjamin Franklin’s advice, “Early to bed and early to rise…!” I hope the second part of that statement holds true about making us “…healthy, wealthy and wise.” We shall see.
We are trying to get a house. We looked at a lot of places here and found one we like. The process for acquiring it is slow and complicated by the fact that almost everything we needed in the way of paperwork is in Miami. Plus, the transaction involves people in three states. Like they say; it’s complicated.
One of the things that has made me filled with an inner glow of joy is the help and support we have received from our friends, old and new. Valerie has taken time to find and forward things to us that were so critical in our paperwork process. Alex had been tireless in working to keep our process on track and moving forward. Our son, Nick, has been there to tie together all the loose ends in Miami. Believe me there are many for him to deal with. My daughter, Heather, has offered support and information on navigating the systems for the state of North Carolina. Our daughter, Zoey, has offered support in so many ways for which we will always be grateful.
Our new friends like Rosie (Saskia knew her from high school but they reconnected) who has been so gracious and accommodating by providing us a place to stay. David who has lived here his entire life and is a never-ending source of information as well as being pretty darn handy. Sherry, our realtor has driven us over the mountain roads of two counties searching for a place to live. Other friends we have met here, Paul, Julie, Will, another Julie, all who have offered support and friendship. I know there are others but these are the names that pop into my mind at this time. All in one way or another, helping us to find a home.
If, a year ago, someone had said that we would be living in such a small space for this amount of time I would have not believed them and yet, here we are. And on top of it all, we are doing pretty well. How is this possible?
I think we have become able to understand what it means to live in the here and now. That probably sounds pretty silly because where can you live except in the here and now. In truth, I am physically present 24/7, ah but in my mind, well that’s another story. I have spent my entire life looking for “Something.” That, “Something” always varied but the search was always there. The right person, place, feeling, job, house, car, anything outside of me. I was addicted to excitement, the next “Something.”
One of my favorite authors and teachers, Swami Muktananda, stated in one of his books that the object of desire is to desire. I love that insight. I get off on desire and the cycle of desire. Whatever the “object” of that desire it is really incidental even though it may seem beyond life “huge” at the time. Each desire has a beginning and a temporary satisfaction period, followed by an end. Eating chocolate is a good example of desire for me. I crave it, I relish the consumption of it, which is followed by the let down and crash shortly after eating it. Then, I want more of some other form of pleasure. This is always true. Nothing is permanent and that is one of the main factors that make living like we are now so very interesting. There is not much to be a distraction. It is not permanent.
Being in the present is not exciting, like chocolate.
This leaves me with two choices; I can either be in the present or I can live in my head. One is about acceptance of the way I am and the other is about chasing illusions that always elude me. The choice is mine.