If I could wrap up my feelings of the last three months in just one word I would say tumultuous! Upheavals in life can make you or break you and when you place all those events in order by biggest impact on you, the ones that appear at the top include – Death, Divorce and Moving House!

The tumult in my life recently has been Moving House!

After 20 years we have moved from our home and BnB cottage on a 3 acre semi-rural block into a Modern house on a regional suburban block. The impact on both Alex and I has been profound! We have shifted our ‘heart place’ and replaced the old way of life for the new! We have said goodbye to our old homestead and breezed in to a new sanctuary – the start of an exciting adventure into our ‘silver senior years!’

We have not had time to get bored in social isolation, we have been decluttering and downsizing! We have not been overly concerned with fears of contracting Covid-19 as our focus remained firmly on the future!

Starting afresh in a new home means so much to me! I have now carved out a new trajectory – my goals have changed to focus on a new way of being! For years I have been known as Coach Carole in the world of Toastmasters – and I have been privileged to earn my Distinguished Toastmaster Awards for services rendered! For about 18 years I have been defined by Toastmasters – an all consuming passion to lead and support others in their personal objectives! For the last 3 months I have been busy assisting other Toastmasters in Moving and Meetings Online!

Now its time for me!

The new me will spend more time writing – non-fiction ecourses and blog posts that feature my genealogy pursuits – alongside my memoir writing for a reality check, and poetry and fictional stories to satisfy my creative urge! I will have time to connect again with my memoir writing group and to participate in more ecourse creation courses online!

The new me will have more time for patchwork quilting and reading!

On reading: a dear friend asked recently if I will read my books again – the many that I have unpacked in the move – my answer is yes, most definitely! On one shelf sit my books on astrology, i-ching and Tarot; on another shelf sit my books on Celtic mythology; another shelf sit a collection from Felix Dennis (gifts from him for helping with his family history); on another shelf sit the novels that changed me by favourite authors (Dirk Bogarde, Maeve Binchy, Ken Follett, Rosamunde Pilcher, JRR Tolkein, Diana Gabaldon and Fiona Lowe) – and thats just one book case! These I can dip into again as I look for inspiration for my own writing!

On quilting: I uncovered a UFO whilst packing up my stuff last week, this UnFinished Object inspired me to finish it and in doing so to design my sewing space in a spare room at the new house! The quilt top is still in pieces, so the first task is to join the pieces, the next task is to create the borders – more sewing, and then sandwich the quilt top,  batting and backing ready for the actual quilting! This quiet creative process will help me to focus on something other than ‘screen work’ – a metaphor for piecIng together my new life.

My heart place is beginning to change my thinking process – I am recharged and ready to ‘unpack my thoughts’ and share more of me with you! My personal task and objective  this month has been to maintain a daily journal of my thoughts – I started that in hand written format in one of those small journals with just 40 pages! Writing small amounts frequently seemed to suit my journalling style whilst packing and unpacking – a short relief from using the tape gun to construct the ‘millions’ of cardboard boxes.

Oh but I am not consistent! I started with good intentions then got distracted with the ‘thousand and one’ things that needed doing – the notifications to service providers of change of address – the coordination of the dates and times of ‘uplift’ by removalists – the logistics of itemising and labelling of inventory lists – all those pressing deadlines to ‘get my house in order’! My diary entries became sporadic! It is definitely better for me to set aside ‘journalling time’ – like right now as I write this post at 6:00 am.

I close now with a short list of things that inspired and supported me in the move to my new ‘heart place’:

• the care and support from our real estate agent
• the friendship and assistance from our neighbours
• the advice, financial and legal advice from our solicitors
• the fortitude, patience and diligence of my husband
  
• the advice and support from my online networks

The vision of 39 Maygar Avenue painted clearly in my minds eye kept spurring me on to achieve our ‘heart place’

Where is your ‘heart place’?