A Life Hiatus
Las Catalinas Sunset
Thirteen years ago, B and I spent a winter working remotely in San Blas, a little fishing town on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Since then, we have been trying to get back to that life.
It has taken years of talking and planning, and now, with two kiddos in tow, we leave behind home for a school year on Costa Rica’s Gold Coast. Our new address is in Brasalito—a little town surrounded by other little towns, lots of cows and horses, and countless white-sand beaches, each one special in its own way.
Living six countries south of the home and life I know in Edmonton, I think of the different ways I want to spend what feels like precious time on this adventure.
A thesaurus search for “hiatus” brings up many meanings—discontinuity, chasm. Interval, lapse. Breach, blank. But space is what describes this hiatus best.
This year is about finding space.
…for creativity to be exercised in a way it hasn’t been before.
…between the joints and sockets of my achy body.
…to be the parent and the wife I want to be.
What have I learned in this first week?
The Buddhist saying stands true: Wherever you go, there you are.
It is just as hard to write something I am proud of here as it was at my desk back home. I still check the mirror every morning to see if I am infinitesimally fatter today than I was yesterday, and I still get annoyed when there is blue toothpaste spit left in the sink. And YEP! My achy body followed me down here, too!
On the other hand, there is palpable adventure ahead. There is new culture and language to be learned; new people to meet, new perspectives to contemplate. (And, just so I’m being transparent—a cold winter to skip!)
In the posts to follow, I hope to share a mix of adventures and contemplations, and maybe questions that beach life gets one pondering…
Enjoy!