I smiled when I read the words…they were SO true!
I happened upon a blog of a man that was describing how when he thinks he has come up with a new idea, he soon finds that others have beat him to it. Its kinda like the “new car syndrome” where after you purchase a new car you suddenly see the same model everywhere when in reality they have been there all along but you simply had not noticed them before.
When Gina and I decided to travel with our kids I thought that was an original idea. Perhaps the approach we are taking is unique (there I go again) but after some research we found lots of families that had done the same thing. The Traveling Families section of our website links too many of them.
Now granted it is not like a majority of the population has suddenly decided to cash it all in and spend a couple years traveling the globe with their school aged children, but there were more like minded souls than I would have originally thought.
When I was younger I would get disappointed when I had what I thought was a unique idea only to find out that there was already a whole group of people already interested in the same thing. Nowadays I view the revelations of not arriving first differently, as a confirmation that I am heading in the right direction.
During my last day on the job, our Art Director came into my office to wish me well and talk about the journey we had before us. He told me to be aware of the signs along the path, that they would tell us if we were headed in the right direction or not. A smile came to my face when he said this, because in another couple of weeks Gina’s mother was getting married to a professor of Cultural Studies whose understanding and support of our trip would make the absence of her daughter for a year or longer bearable. And in fact we planned and executed a reunion in Buenos Aires around his speaking engagement a year later.
There have been other signs along the way. I think we are getting better at recognizing them both through practice but also because our pace of life allows us the time for observation and reflection. I know that we are not the first couple/family to change their lifestyle, to remove themselves from the rat race and create a simpler life for ourselves. But our interests in Natural Building, Sustainability, Permaculture, a more rural, simpler lifestyle are somewhat unique for people with our background.
We were reassured that we were on the right path last week at the Cob workshop, not only were there a number of “hippies” participating but there was also a commercial airline pilot that recently decided to change careers and a corporate IT Project Manager that took the leap and is now planning to build himself a smaller life on a few acres in Missouri. Not only are these sign posts that we are heading in the right direction but they give us strength and resolve to forge ahead…as one guy said “it is nice to have these conversations and people not think I am crazy”.
Why would someone leave a 6 figure job and the nice cars and houses? Some would say we are crazy – but a few others in the wilderness we find ourselves would provide friendship and sustenance along the way and encourage us to push forward to create something uniquely ours. And I think that is ultimately what it is all about, not being the first person with a particular idea but combining different ideas to create something uniquely yours.
Creativity is often both a conscious and unconscious process. Creativity includes taking seemingly disparate ideas and combining them into something new and unique, this is the path we are on and only time will tell where it ultimately leads…this is our creative life.
Want to read more from Sean? He also writes for AffordableCallingCards.net where he blogs about his life as an expat. Come by both blogs and share a comment!
