local isn’t all that great

metro – 2 oct 014

For me, at least.

Yes, I love connecting with my neighbors. Volunteering locally. Being a pedestrian. Buying locally.

But I get lost when I am local. Backwards right? I don’t get lost in a physical sense; I’ve lived in the county for 16 years. I generally have a good sense of where I’m headed — except on Monday as I headed to get Phelix from boarding, I was SO distracted by the CLEAR CUTTING (ACK) at the YDFM (Your DeKalb Farmers Market, if you’re not local) that I missed the turn. When I did a u-turn a YDFM, I almost wept. Where did all those trees go???

My own external distractions notwithstanding, I seem to fall into a serious rut at home. I spend my time in my small home. I cook here. I sleep here. I work here. I clean here. I take care of kids here. The other stuff? A gift to myself when I get everything else done. And that rarely happens.

Why do I do this to myself? My Happiness Project has added things to my to-do list, but only for the goal of reducing my load in order to let me enjoy our locale. So why is it only the times when I am on a trip that I can slow down enough to sit in a cafe, explore a new place, people watch? When will I get to the place where I feel relaxed enough to do this at home as well as while on a trip? Will typing this out remind me that this is my ultimate goal and make me take time for just being?

Or do I just need to keep pursuing travel as my outlet? The times when I can suspend all other pursuits in order to just *BE*?