This is my screensaver ....

<a href="http://allseasons.typepad.com/allseasons/palms.JPG"><img alt="palms.JPG" src="https://allseasons.typepad.com/allseasons/palms-thumb.JPG" width="600" height="401" border="0" /></a>

I live this image ... the photo was taken in the parish of St Thomas in Barbados. You can just see the outline of a sugar factory in the background. It is one of my most endurng images when I think of the island - a row of strong Royal Palms. This evokes an inexplicable sense of homesickness in me.

Comments

[Ana]

Isn't it funny that we can be homesick for places that have never been home? (assuming that's what you meant by inexplicable) It must be just longing for a particular moment in time --but then I wonder, how will I be able to tell, if someday I pass through the place where I am really meant to be?

[wendy]

I think you'll know because you won't want to leave and if you do leave, you will think about it all the time. At least that's how I knew.

[Alicia]

I felt that way about Boston, actually. I didn't want to leave, and brought a phone book back so I could call apartments and job places.

This image is lovely and I can just feel the breeze and smell the scent on the wind. I can see why you are homesick for this place. Are you planning on moving there ever?

[Kelly]

Thank you...what an image. It is a really interesting thought about being "homesick" for a place that was "home" for just a period of time...maybe it is your true "home"?! Could this be a permanent home for you one day, Wendy? I am homesick for a place I only visited once. I feel drawn to make it my home, so I can relate to Ana's comment about passing through a place that is possibly meant to be.

[wendy]

I daydream about winning the lottery and moving to Barbados ... who knows. Kelly & Alicia ... there is a book called 'Belonging' written by a Canadian named Isabel Huggan - she lives in France. Its theme is home and belonging. She also talks about instantly falling in love with a place and feeling it's home - for her I think it was Tasmania. Have both of you tried to sort out moving to your special spot? Both of you are young enough to make this kind of move. It gets harder as you get older ... take it from me.

[Dale]

Sadly you'd need to win the lottery, since the cost of living here is atrocious...

Still, everytime I go to the beach, I forget about all of that.

[Ana]

Still mulling over this question of belonging. I'm in an odd position as an immigrant in that I have no family roots here, and no natural home. I put down roots where I landed, and Boston's been very kind to me, but in my heart I know it's not forever and I want to grow old somewhere quieter. I haven't quite had the courage to up and go "try out" a place. Partly it's reasonable caution (who's going to leave a good job in these times?) but partly it's fear of the unknown. I might check out that book as well.

[Kelly]

Wendy - do you play the lotto? Give it a shot -- you never know!! That book might move to the top of my reading list...i'll be looking for it soon. Thanks!

Ana, your thoughts are interesting. In early 2002 I would have NEVER thought of leaving my job to try something like living abroad. The fear of leaving a good job really haunted me for awhile...now, I am confident that I could find another one, I am open to different careers too, so there is flexibility. And the risk involved with taking a chance on what might be a new home is one I am more comfortable with now...you know, that "we only have one life to live kind of thing"...Who knows, maybe this fall you will hear something from me about trying out a new place to see if I belong.

This is a great thread, all stemming from a stunning screensaver waving to us all!

[Sonia]

Hello!

I love your page!

How may I view yours photos? I can't see it.
Thank you.

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