Lonely happens. It happened to me last evening. I tend to do well alone and I usually like it, but there are times when lonely creeps in. I start thinking about what I would be doing if I were at work! No! I don’t want to go back to work, but there are good memories…
So I text a good friend and work buddy, Anne. She happened to be right there and texted back in a minute. Next Anne sends a little video of her almost 5 year old daughter telling me she misses me and so does her mom.
SO cute and it makes me laugh out loud and the lonely spell starts to ease.
And in other news…. 🙂
Wednesday we arrive at Santa Rosa Lake State Park in New Mexico. I plan to stay two days to get a driving break. I find we can’t do much walking here because there are thorn-like pickers all over the ground. I don’t see them, but the thorns are 1/8 to 1/4 inch long and they hurt Joy and Shiloh’s feet! Each time we try to take a walk it happens repeatedly, so I give up that idea and clean house instead. I throw all the rugs outside, bring the blankets out to air, and shine up everything till it sparkles. With two big dogs (and me) living in this small home, it can get dirty quickly.
I love our little rolling home! It feels like it is part of me…an extension of who I am. I love that it is small and cozy and comfortable. I love the colors I decorated with…it just makes me happy to be curled up inside, writing to you. I am content with this lifestyle I’ve chosen, and feel blessed to have the freedom to satisfy my Wandering Spirit.
Joy 🙂
This is what I woke up to out my window this morning!
Wandering Spirit 
Hallelujah! You’re NORMAL. I think lonely strikes all of us, (even those of us who are happily married) especially when things aren’t going the way we planned. Let’s see, hornets, prickers in Joy and Shiloh’s feet prevent walking, you’re tired from driving. Sounds like a perfect set up for lonely. I’m glad you texted Anne and she was able to respond right away. Remember that there are many hugs waiting for you at Pine Knot. You’ll be meeting 150 of your new best friends. And by the time the rally is over you’ll probably be ready for some alone time.
Yikes Reine, 150 new best friends! Im basically kinda shy and reserved….But the hugs do sound good.
Looking forward to meetin’ y’all! 🙂
Pretty much Casita folks will give you as much or as little space as you want. But there WILL be 150 folks there but with everyone’s varied interests different folks will go wandering off in different locations. I’m predicting you’ll have a great time.
hello wanderer
enjoyed your recent reflections. i have stopped more than once at the santa rosa park you are now resting at. the life you/we have chosen embraces those moments of alone-ness. maybe because we are moving solo threw our journey we engage with more authenticity these solitary emotions than our social counter parts who never part close company with other humans.
engaging this moments is a great blessing many others may never get to enjoy as we do.
hope to see you again soon
b
Hi Brian, nice to hear from you. Yes, you would be the one who would know, having lived this life for ten years. Being alone most of the time, one really does have an opportunity to deeply feel the emotions that come along. I do like that.
Hope to see you again soon too Brian!
I’ve really enjoyed your blog, but especially enjoying your journey from California to Texas. I feel a kinship in the ways you describe nature, and what it does to your spirit. And I certainly relate to the lonely. I try to put myself in your place and wonder how I’d feel. It’s helping me to consider the pros and cons of the lifestyle I hope to have someday.
Hi Cindy,
I love nature! It’s power, gentleness, beauty, strength…it has so many faces, all stunning in some way. Humanity tries to control it, but we will never win and I’m glad.
Lonely. Alone.. Two very different experiences. If you truly like being alone, this is a good way to live. On the other hand you can always be around people if you want to be. Take a walk around a campground and there are always people to talk to and sometimes even to bond with. You can be sociable or not.
I think that is a ‘pro’ to consider.
Hi Micky,
I sure can relate to feeling lonely sometimes. Sometimes, even in a crowd I feel lonely. I was just listening to a podcast on loneliness and the host was saying that one of the benefits is that the sunsets are prettier and the air smells sweeter because you can be fully present to enjoy them. I felt a little bit of comfort hearing that! 40 years of living and working at a certain pace may take a bit of time to change gears. Just know you are not alone in spirit. Our hearts are along side you on your journey!
Hi Mary,
I lost my internet connection last night and never got it back again. Now I’m in Texas at an RV Park with free internet.
“sunsets are prettier and the air smells sweeter”, yes exactly. I think that’s similar to what Brian was saying in his comment above. Without human interaction we might feel emotions as more intense and may be able to savor them more thoroughly.
It’s good to know your heart is along side me on this journey. I value that.
Hugs
I just hate those little thorny things! Skruffy has seemed to “smell them out” and won’t walk out on a lawn or weedy area that has them….but Bubba just flies right in there and then starts limping. Thank goodness we are past that part of the “west” where they are so prevalent. Glad everything is going well. –Dave (GoingRvWay.com)
Hi Dave. I found out those little thorny things are called “goats heads”. They come from a little ground cover type weed. Awful things! Nature certainly gave that little plant some heavy duty protection…I wonder what kind of medicinal value it has…or if it is useful in some other way? The thorns are one of natures less pleasant faces. 🙂
Ps…walking a short distance to the shower in my shower shoes one poked through and got me. When I went to take it out I found 7 or 8 of those buggers in each shoe!
When traveling solo I have also felt this deep loneliness – a little sadness and self-pitying went along with it. Thoughts and observations seemed sharper, even though I often felt near tears. I also found that I was enjoying it, just being silent, lonely in a big city or little town, but so aware of everything around me. I found ‘company’ in the sites and objects and artwork and buildings and trees. I kinda savored it – and I look back and remember this loneliness with a strange fondness.
Laura I think we are onto something, Brian, Mary, you and I….there is a certain kind of beauty in loneliness, and aloneness too, I think, even without the loneliness. Even the memory of it can be beautiful…