,
Sometimes we didn't know what we were missing until we feel or experience the once absent experience for the first time. A quote from The Scarlet Letter came to mind by Nathaniel Hawthorne that always resonates with me each year I teach the novel, "She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom."
Now this is not to say I didn't love my life in Pendleton. There are many things that I appreciate and still do, but it wasn't until earlier this week when I was returning home from the Oregon coast with my dogs, a place I adore, a place I always am able to relax and unwind, and this trip was no different, that I ached to come home. I
had had enough of my mini-vacation. I not only longed for my new house that I called home, but I was eager to go about the town, pop into my favorite shops and bakeries, all now for the first time in one town.
I
share this experience to remind us all that sometimes we don't know what we want, but rather we know what doesn't fit quite right. We cannot always explain it, but we know when something is snug, uncomfortable or irritating in ways that maybe others cannot understand.
If such a feeling persists after a long period of time, consider exploring. Often we don't know what we need until we stumble across it, and I am tickled to have re-stumbled across Bend last spring after 10 long years away. It was the jolt of an aha moment that showed me what I was missing.
The key is to listen to yourself, trust yourself and then step forward in exploration as Frances Schultz talks about in her interview on The Simple Sophisticate this week. I couldn't agree more with her advice. You will know what is right for you because it will speak to you, but the only way to know
is to try all of the different flavors along the way. It is a wonderful interview that I feel so fortunate to share with you. Her new book The Bee Cottage Story is part decor book and part memoir and wholeheartedly a worthwhile resource and gem.
Wishing you a lovely last weekend in August and may the coming of September usher in gifts that even you nor I could imagine. Until next week, I'll see you on the blog.
