The other night I was watching a show called House Hunters International. It is on HGTV and is awesome. They follow couples who are moving from one country to another and help them pick out the right home. I love it because I am a HUGE voyeur when it comes to how people in other countries live. I love checking out the options as to what life could look like. Anyway, there have been people moving from Africa to Australia and from Connecticut to Italy. The show relevant to this post involved a family moving from San Francisco to Iceland. The husband was from Iceland originally and the couple had an infant son. The show doesn't go immensely into the personal lives of the subjects (really, the stars are the houses), but there were little pieces of information as to why they were leaving the States. In short, they couldn't afford it after he lost his job. They were struggling in California and a move to be near his family would significantly improve their quality of life both monetarily and when it came to their son. It was sort of hard to watch. But it, of course, had a happy ending two months later with a gorgeous (but small) condo. The kicker? She was thrilled at the new pace of her life, at the chance to spend time with her son and with her new GARDEN. Seriously. There are clones of us all running around (at least in Iceland).
I am well aware of how much I have complained about this move. And some of it is very justified. But I have to agree with the SanFransisco-Icelander woman--it sucks, the change is hard, and it is absolutely invaluable for making us see that life doesn't have to go mach 20 in order to be happy. So many people today have found themselves stepping off of the fast track (usually aganst their wills) to find that a more leisurely pace is really, really great. The ability to spend time with friends and loved ones is invaluable. And the opportunity to breathe (while disconcerting) is heavenly.
I'm not advocating quitting your job and moving to Belize. Ok, yes, I am. But my point is that there is a whole big world out there with a lot of opportunities. If you're smarter than I am, you will choose to go that route instead of waiting for life to push you there. Life is very, very uncertain and no amount of planning can change that, as so many of us have recently found out. But it doesn't have to be a bad thing. And if it's actually your decision, it can be even better. So drop your pencils and coffee--run from your office buildings! Be free! And when your spouse or parents yell at you, please don't mention you read this....
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