The Life We Want...

If you really think about it, the rules don't apply to any of us...not just the lucky some of us, but all of us. You live the way you choose to live (unless, of course, you're incarcerated, and then still, it's kind of a by-product of choice, right?), and manage this life the way that only you can. No two children are the same, no two parents, no two homes, and no two experiences...so why all the fuss with expectations and all the stress and strain of living up to other people's standards. You are who you are and that's just that...done.

June and I are happy to live as we do. Sure we long for this bit of stability, or that bit of coastline, but in the end we get what we want, and what we want is this ability to float in and out of the norm, above and below the radar, with and sometimes without approval or understanding.

Spending last summer in the South Pacific...leaving our lives and our jobs behind, even for just five or six weeks, was life changing. It melted our perspectives together even better than they already were, and it opened our eyes a little wider. Moving our curious collective existences to Brooklyn this past summer did more of the same, and we're happy to be flitting about this earth in and out of favor with the Gods of obligation and responsibility.

I tell many of the young people that I work with that you can wahtever you want as long as it's positive and moving your life forward...as long as it's not hurting anyone, and it's improving your lot in life. I say it all of the time, and that's all we're doing in our lives. That's it...nothing magic. We want more than what your average backyard and white picket fence can provide but we also know the distinct value in both. They're not worth totally chucking, but then they're not worth investing too heavily in either, at the risk of losing a dozen other bits of your soul. We should see island volcanos, and know how to catch the subway home from Hell's Kitchen, drunk and alone...we should know the value of work and the pricelessness of shedding it on occasion as well. We should know that everything that we do makes us who we are, and I desperately want to be mountains and oceans and city streets from acround the world. I want to be Hawaiian songs and Parisian cafes...I want to be sotries that no one believes.

We're back from the life we came to know in New York but may already be gone again, in spirit at least...in heart and mind we're never very far from home as long as we've got each other.

Now then...what's next?