Fearlessly Floating
I am 60 years old and living proof that change is not good.
It’s great.
As a work-from-home single mom, I was torn between the fantasy of a life without my kids and the adolescent excitement of reclaiming my own space. With one son away at college and the other about to embark on a gap year abroad, would I really miss the face-plants over heaps of dirty laundry, breaking out in a cold sweat over sky-high grocery bills or the near-fatal sprints for the TV remote?
Probably not.
I wanted a less-than-conventional lifestyle. One that included community and creativity. So I channeled my inner-bohemian and got it in spades.
I now rent a faded and funky floating home in a postcard-perfect setting in Sausalito -- only three minutes from our previous home. I swapped soaring windows and a water view for seven portholes and sliding door to carve out a lifestyle with the things and people I love. Now I am part of a family of elders and artists, newborns and scientists, architects, designers, doctors and dreamers. A happy, homogenous soup of professionals, musicians and hippies, floating through life. And life is good.
Where else is flotsam and jetsam considered an art form? Where salty dog and diplomat creatively coexist, where you can paddle board to brunch, kayak to happy hour and water bike to movie night?
Mine is a living, breathing docudrama of Saturday morning Tai Chi sessions, weekend paella extravaganzas and spontaneous alfresco dinners by candlelight with arguably the warmest and biggest-hearted cast of characters one could ask for.
Do I miss my kids and walk-in closet? Absolutely. Would I do it again?
In a heartbeat.
Even with low tide and limited closet space, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
I am living an enchanted and magical floating life.
Change is good and this one’s a keeper.
– Angela Dunkle
What are your dreams for change? Tell us in the comments section below!
