Closing Doors With Grace

Jul 12, 2017 | 0 comments

Don and I are leaving Hamilton for at least seven months. We’re selling our house and will be renting an apartment in Nanaimo, B. C. As a result we’re ending or transforming relationships with people and organizations.

Fair Trade Hamilton is a social action group I started last fall, when moving was a distant dream. I thought I’d be around to see Hamilton become a fair trade town. While I would love to be involved every step of the way, I know that there are great people who will move the work forward. I’m now completing some projects to ensure a smooth transition when I leave.

The board of directors of my spiritual community was not so easy. In January, I agreed to join the board for a few months, after some unexpected resignations required that positions be filled quickly. A four-month term turned into an eight-month term, and then I said I would be willing to continue to attend meetings by phone from Nanaimo.

I loved that I was so irreplaceable, so darned important that they needed me to call in from three time zones away!

But then, we figured out how they could survive without me; I wouldn’t need to continue with the board after I left. Of course it made sense to have board members who could be there in person. It was good for the community and good for the board. Yes, yes, my head nodded, this was great news.

But my heart didn’t like it. Not one little bit. I felt unimportant. Non-essential. Left by the wayside as the parade carried on. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Did I feel like a three year old? Oh, yes.

When I considered the situation from the perspective of an adult, I recognized that the timing was perfect. I was a strong leader during a difficult time. I did that. Now it is time to move on.

The board isn’t rejecting me. It is moving forward as it should. Rather than feeling left behind and unimportant, I can look upon this time with pride and satisfaction. Everything has its perfect timing and it is perfect that I say goodbye to my board position as I say goodbye to the spiritual community.

As I move into the next phase of my life, I know that all is happening in Divine timing. The ending of one chapter is just the beginning of the next.

When we can let go with grace and maturity, we can see that there are endless blessings available to us.

Embracing the New and the Rich

Jul 5, 2017 | 1 comment

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt

“You’ll always regret it if you don’t try it,” said Laura, my financial planner. She told me how she and her husband had come to Canada from Eastern Europe and created a great life for themselves here. She said it was the best decision they ever made.

Laura’s story came in response to my sharing that I kinda sorta wanted to move to British Columbia. My husband and I love the west coast and were thinking about moving there.

That conversation was well over a year ago, but I never forgot Laura’s words: you’ll always regret it if you don’t try it.

So, I’m trying it. Don and I are renting a furnished apartment in Nanaimo, B. C. for seven months beginning in September. We don’t know what we’ll do after that – stay in B. C., return to Ontario, or move somewhere else. We’re selling our house, so we’ll have the freedom to go anywhere. Since Don’s work is virtual, and mine is becoming more so, we can work wherever we are.

This is a dream I’ve been nurturing for over thirty years. When my parents took our family to Expo in Vancouver in 1986, I fell in love with the west coast. I was drawn to the vibrancy of the city, the natural beauty and, oh, the mountains. I felt the pull to move, but fear and practicality kept me where I was…and the memory faded. At least twenty years passed before I travelled west again. And again I thought, gosh, I would love to live here.

Finally, last fall, Don and I took a trip to see if we could find a community that felt right to us. When we drove into Nanaimo, we knew we had found the place.

The apartment we’ve rented is across the street from the Harbourfront Walkway, which leads along the water to the downtown core and the harbour, pictured above. I’m looking forward to taking the walkway to shopping, restaurants and fun places to sip a latte as I draft my blog posts. I’m looking forward to spending time in beautiful natural places – mountains, old-growth forests, coastal beaches – and to taking the ferry across to Vancouver, where I can visit my goddaughter’s baby (I’m calling myself his grand-godmother).

As Don and I prepare our house for sale, we’re energized by the knowledge that in less than three months, we’ll be off on an adventure of a lifetime.

I’m glad we’re following Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice to reach out eagerly for new and rich experiences. Don and I don’t know where the path will lead, but we’re taking the first step toward something that has been beckoning us for years.

And we know that we’ll always regret it if we don’t try it.