Angela lives in a number of places:
(1) She is renting a studio apartment in the green suburbs of the big city. She hardly ever spends the night there. (2) For bureaucratic reasons, her residential registration states that she is living at her mother’s house – which is somewhere else. (3) Most of her spare time, she is with her fiancé Paul. At his house, in another part of town. (4) On summer weekends, she is seen at her own little countryside cottage in the midst of a fruit orchard, repairing the roof, mowing the lawn and harvesting berries and herbs – so she can gift them to her friends, the city dwellers. (5) Also, in summer, Angela and Paul move out of town, to his summer house at a lake. Far from her cottage but close enough to the big city for everyday commutes.
Most of Angela’s wardrobe is stored in the trunk of her car. It is a huge trunk.
Angela is the busiest woman I have ever met. She takes care of her elderly mother. She regularly sees her brother and sister, nurtures a number of friendships, attends fancy business events. She is the local CEO of an international company. She frequently travels the country to manage her wide-spread team. Her style is impeccable. No need to mention that she works overtime, all the time. She bakes bread for Paul who is on a special diet. It is Angela who organizes their holiday travels and family events. Have I mentioned? Angela has no housekeeper.
So, while watching Angela’s spaces multiply over the years, I have asked myself:
How does she possibly do this? Does she feel scattered, at times? Where does she feel at home? Is it inside her car? Is “home” even a concept that she refers to? Where is her safe haven that fills her energy tanks? Where does she withdraw to? Does she always know where her off-white YSL blazer is? Are all of her refrigerators filled with edible food? Is she human? Does she have the same book on every nightstand, so she can keep track of its content? Is she a new species? What is Angela’s unique faculty that keeps her on track, healthy and sane while switching homes all the time?
Maybe Angela is a nomad. Someone who knows that everything is ephemeral, and is therefore proactively living it. She seems to navigate effortlessly between her places. Maybe there is a good balance for her between moving around and being steady. There are plenty of stable parameters in Angela’s life: the caring for her mother, her siblings, her friendships, the management position that she has successfully filled for 30 years. Is the nomad lifestyle Angela’s refreshing getaway from her responsibilities and all this steadiness? Is it a way of escaping herself, never ever questioning her life purpose, being too busy moving around all the time? Or is it true freedom? Or does it simply not matter?
Are some of us “homebodies”, and others less dependent on a specific place? Home is where the heart is, so we say.
Is home a choice of space, or of company – or a choice of being?
Step #3 = NAVIGATE
© Beate Brigid Schilcher 2021-09-21