This morning I woke up early. I still had a few things to do before I left the apartment. Somehow, most days, I wake up five or ten minutes before my alarm. The room was blue, the sun probably just starting to peak over the sea. I heard a bird singing, loud and beautifully. It was a wonderful way to wake up, as I rubbed my eyes open. I looked around and that… that was the last sleep I’d have in this apartment, and the last morning out of all the mornings I had spent there. I try not to think about these things for too long, so I took my phone in my hands to see what had happened overnight.
The first message to come up – a quote from Albert Einstein. Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance you must keep moving. Really? I thought. I glanced at my luggage bags, seams showing and bursting full of things I didn’t realise I’d accumulated. I thought to myself, Einstein doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’m sick of moving. I pushed myself up from my bed and blocked any sentimental thoughts. I started the practical things… cleaning, packing, checking and all that I am so used to doing before I leave a place.
Why can’t life be like driving a car? You don’t need to keep your balance, you just need to look after your engine. Sometimes you go too fast, sometimes you don’t move at all. But it’s all good because you know that when you’re ready, you’ll press on the accelerator and get to where you want to go. I feel that I’m getting ready to stop soon, my engine is getting worn out and I need to have it serviced. That’s enough of the car metaphor.
This region is the place where I am deciding to settle myself for many reasons, but above all it has almost everything. It has the sea, the mountains, the forest and the river. There are places which have the lights and noise of a city, but a short distance away you will find solitude and quiet, fresh air. It suits all of my different personalities and moods, and will satisfy my habit of getting bored easily. More than that, this region is close to Italy, Switzerland, Germany… it is a short flight away from anywhere in Europe and not much longer to venture further out to places I’ve never been.
Most importantly, I have close friends here and it’s a short train ride away from friends that I have in the mountains. I feel like when it’s not possible to relax in this region, then I only have to jump on the train for a while until I’m in the peace and quiet of Ardeche. It’s been an intense 6 weeks, with lots of emotional ups and downs (mostly ups)… I am looking forward to going again to where few people know me, and just existing.
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