Wow!! I can’t believe, in a way, that within 3 months of making the decision to move back to England to be with the Mr. (who was already working in London for the past year) I’m already here. Boxes are ALMOST all unpacked and we’re slowly settling into a sort-of-routine. 3 weeks after arriving, I’m already thinking of starting work again.
As some of you may know, this is now my 5th home in 5 years. Whoa…! Now that I’ve written it down, it does sound crazy. Who moves home every year for the past 5 years? Well, US really!!
Someone asked me recently, do you not get tired or bored of moving? Well, how do I answer it correctly?
I believe change is the only constant thing in life. In order for life to keep moving, an organism need to keep changing with its environment, to adapt and move along. If it stays the same, it might be the victim of evolution and no longer be necessary in the ecosystem.
I have always been a nomad. I guess it runs in the genes. My grandparents and parents were all migrants, seeking out another country, away from their birth land, to find greener pastures. This moving around means I make lots of new friends, whom many have ended up becoming like family. Meeting new people and inevitably learning new things from them, has always given me so much renewed energy. It’s like new atoms joining and exploding in my brain, constantly giving me bursts of light.
Now it’s not all romance and rose tinted glasses this nomadic life, mind you. The downside to this life is when you start having children. My DD1 is coming up to 14 years old and soon to enter Year 9 in school. She has made 3 different best friends, gone to 5 different schools since age 3 and has chalked up more stamps on her passport than some adults 3x her age. She is one of the most level headed young teen I know. Very knowledgeable of world politics and social decorums like many other Third Culture Kids. It was all easy for her to follow us (or more Daddy’s work) around the world till recently. As a teenager, she wants to stay put, make friends for adulthood and have stability in putting down roots.
We promised ourselves and our DD1 that this time, London will be for a long while. The Mr. has to try keeping consulting clients in the UK so children could stay in one school for a little longer.
I am happy too, to stay longer than the 2-4 years we’ve averaged everywhere. For building a business, an entrepreneur like me DO need to grow roots deep enough to have stability. It has been a LITTLE tiring in the past starting a company, building clientèle, then saying goodbye to all before restarting it all over again in a new country.
The beauty of restarting in England/London is that I am not completely a newbie here. I’ve got so many friends and old clients/students from when I lived here before. Reconnecting with old friends gives me just as much buzz as making new contacts. I feel so much joy to be here, in one of my favourite city in the world. The coaching and therapy industry here is vibrant and growing. And yet the wonders of technology means I can still have clients all over the world (Thank you Skype!). I am sure I will have no problems in restarting this time.
London has so much to offer and being a cosmopolitan city, with lots of other nomadic people like me, I feel right at home. And they say, home is where the heart is, right? 🙂
