Within the RV community, it is an understood adjustment to get close fast and say simple good-byes. However, when venturing out from that community and enter the world of sticks and bricks, churches, clubs, other areas of socializing, I am realizing that for the next few years we will be building community, leaving it, and rebuilding it over and over and over. We will be finding churches in the areas we go to, we will be putting our children into extracurricular activities, we will join up with groups that enjoy the same hobbies and activities that we do. I am sure there are many soul mates and kindred spirits along our future paths.
In the middle of all these feelly feels that I am feeling (not an overly emotional person, so still not sure how to deal), Scott and I had an interesting encounter at a sticks and bricks gathering. During a potlock in a neighborhood that is walking distance from our RV, while engaging in conversation there was definitely some obvious disappointment and a kind of brush off because we were not going to be permanent citizens of Heber.
Then, we had our first "are you crazy, what on earth are you doing" reactions to our lifestyle choice. We were not prepared. In the future, I will be ready with notecards with a quick and easy explanation of our sanity. I could tell Scott was caught off guard and immediately started to defend our upcoming adventure. This person was not seeing the vision at all, so I changed the subject. I am pretty sure if you feel the need to start defending yourself on something that should be a personal choice and not at all controversial, then its probably time to shut down the conversation.
When we got home, it was obvious that Scott and I shared the moment of feeling a bit overexposed and slightly judged or rejected or maybe just confused. We have been feeling genuinely supported for the most part up until this point. There were a few friends that told us they could never adopt this way of living, but that has been the extent of opinions. And those are opinions we understand from people that we love.(Of course this lifestyle is not for everybody.) Why were we taking this stranger's opinion so hard? Why were we taken aback by people that were not really interested in getting to know us on a personal level if we would be leaving next year? The logical side and the emotional side of my brain are baffled. Doubt is tricky business.
When we returned home to our little house on wheels, we met a woman whose family (husband and two small children) had just adopted the lifestyle and were living in an Airstream. We immediately immersed ourselves in deep conversation about life, finances, raising children, homeschooling, birth, etc. In a matter of 30 minutes. I told her it was so refreshing to speak to her after our evening, because we had our first shock and awe (not in a good way) encounter. She was like "oh yeah, plenty of people think we are crazy" with a nod of her head and flip of her hair. She knew it and she had experienced it, and her confidence in her choice was apparent. I left the conversation telling Scott "this is our community." Perhaps we are misfits, but we are a happy bunch of misfits. We share so much in such a short amount of time. Friendships build that would normally take months or years to develop, and we get each other. We have a common link of having the bug to do something different and live a simplified life fueled by experiences and building relationships that transcend the bounds of physical location. I let out a sigh of relief as I connected all the dots of my heart tugging week, and settled back into my peace once again with our choice to live out of bounds.
