Know Your Nucleus.Right after receiving my certification in permaculture 4 months ago, I felt myself synchronize with the cold winter season. I withdrew socially, and was more dormant on the outside, while Life was seeding wonderful things on the inside. Some are starting to bloom... like the increased clarity about my life's motto and business tagline, which is: "Bridging the sacred + the solid." My diverse trainings + passions, finally distilled into a few words I intend to live out through writing and design. I call this distillation -- this understanding your heart's core so well, that you can feel your own completion -- I call that "knowing your nucleus." I have lots of useful tips to share about this in my nearly done essay, "It's Beautiful Inside: An Introvert's Right to BE." Stay tuned for that! Change of addressChicago is America's 3rd most populous city. After more than 20 years of living all over it (South Shore, Rogers Park, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Hyde Park, Bronzeville and Englewood), I'm moving to a suburb for the first time in my life! Well, technically, it's a village -- which is bigger than a hamlet, but smaller than a town. The parking is easy, the square footage is double, and wild deer are near. The contrast is so startling, I wanted to show you some comparison video footage of the difference between the two front doors: Chicago population = 2.7 million. Crete population = 8,200. Flexin' Mind Muscles.I chose to rest my grumpy attitude about being an over-stimulated sensitive empath in an urban environment that was too loud, too crowded, too industrial for my full flourishing. "No more pouting about that," I decided. I finally understood that my complaints actually fed and sustained the uncomfortable situation. So I really made peace with where I was -- in a small-ish apartment on a busy street of a large city. And in about a month or so, my residential reality completely changed to include so many of the things I had been wanting more of: wildlife, privacy, square footage, quiet, greenery, and beautiful nooks + spaces in which to create, practice regenerative design and holistic living, and share with you! While packing, I've been feeling nostalgic. I love my city's diversity, creativity, excitement, lakefront beauty, awesome public transit... oh, speaking of transit, here is an entertaining subway story, where I interrupted a nasty conversation about getting gang-banged: How I turned two frogs into princes. (And no, I didn't kiss them.) Yeah, good times on the Red Line. A bit of randomness: In Chicago, we lived a few minutes away from President Obama's former home, and The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan's current one. What a coincidence that his son -- Mustapha Farrakhan, who is the Supreme Captain of the Nation of Islam -- also lives in Crete. I have no ties with NOI, but am just noticing how permaculture has me spotting patterns in surprising ways :-) Questions for You.Are you a high perceiver (a sensitive sort) living in a big city? If so, how do your surroundings feel to you? Do you know what your ideal environment is? Are you moving closer to it... consistently thinking about its appeal? Can you imagine living in a way -- and in a space -- that supports your temperament + sensibilities? Have you already made a move to better suit who you are? Let's hear your voice in the comments.
6 Comments
Tanya
2/17/2015 06:01:54 am
This is so exciting dearest gorgeous woman!!! (and of course was bound to happen, smiles) It fills my heart with anticipatory delight at the All that you will gift us from this new space of being you in alignment. Smiles, smiles and more smiles.
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2/23/2015 10:18:52 am
"from this new space of being you in alignment." <--- Tanya, only could word-whip that truth into such a creamy, delicacy. Mmmmmm... And your magic-mini-mansion, surrounded by teaching trees, sounds *divine*.
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I live in the bustling, city of New York. I fit and I don't fit my surroundings. From an outer borough I commute daily to the heart of it, for work.
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2/23/2015 09:48:08 am
Jill, thanks for engaging with the question, and sharing a little about your perspectives as a New Yorker. I'm realizing now that it's my old habit of reading nature writers that got me so preoccupied with place as perspective... and even place as (factor of) identity.
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2/18/2015 10:36:16 am
Good for you. I wish you much joy and happiness in your new move. I moved away, totally. first for two years to a middle sized city in Italy, and now to the Capital city of Belize, Belmopan. Let’s say it has 10,000 residence. I stay in the city here because of essentials I need like electricity, internet and phone. My land, about 15 minutes away, is totally OFF the grid. I’ve added some solar, but I don’t have enough for a refrig as one example. In the “city,” these are things I do not sweat.
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2/24/2015 01:28:07 pm
Vinita, you crack me up! :-) I love reading your accounts of life in Italy and Belize, compared to Chicago. It sure sounds like your decision to relocate is serving you well! Warmth *and* a degree of freedom from stress and anger.
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