living with intention: 10 weeks Living at LEV

Two and a half months living at La Ecovilla

Right after I wrote my last post, the moon shifted and energy changed in our house. Adira has really struggled here to find her footing. She asks routinely to go back to Brooklyn, she misses her friends and her school and the comforts of home. She wants to know what her friends are doing now, if they are in school etc. And is already planning a big party for when we return. We didn't anticipate that lifting her from her coccoon at CBE preschool and in park slope would be so challenging, she has always embraced meeting new people and new surroundings with vigor- but meeting friends here has been challenging for her. Some kids dont speak English or Spanish, some kids are way younger or older, and she hasn't found anyone to really feel she has connected to.

Shiloh on the other hand has found friends, loves the school, and is really enjoying the activities he is participating in. He does miss BK and his friends and family, but is constantly telling us how grateful he is for this adventure.

This stark contrast in the kids has caused them to fight and not empathize with one another so well- Adira is more dysregulated and Shiloh has less understanding of her difficulties.

I think that a part of me felt that if we took away all of the stressors of life- the demands of our jobs, the upkeep of our home, the cold weather! That maybe it would ease some of the parenting and family dynamic stressors. And I think what i have come to appreciate is that the stressors are still there- kids are still kids, interpersonal dynamics still exist, but with more fuel in my tank I am more able to think through my reactions to the stressors in a different way.

For me- the nearing of the end of our time here has been a great challenge for keeping my anxiety at bay...one that i'm not necessarily excelling at :) I love it here so much, I love the ease, the weather, our routines, the community- that i'm finding it hard to accept that we may not be back here and that our next destination may not check all of these boxes.

But I'm trying hard to appreciate the little things that are here and not let this time that is left slip away- my morning cup of raw cacao in vanilla goat milk. The farms that deliver to my doorstep (and even enter my home and put food away for me while i'm gone). The sunset dinners with kids running amok- my daily workout classes run by various community members.

We have had some pretty wonderful dinners with friends lately- Shiloh's friends family invited us over, and that morning i received a text from a guy we were in touch with to rent his car but never did, and realized that they lived next door so when we arrived for dinner he and his family came over to say hi- they are a family of 5 who just spent 10 months traveling the world. We all ate an impromtu dinner together and the sunsets there were magical.

At another dinner with another one of shiloh's friends parents- shiloh says its not fair that he is doing all of the work to make friends for us which may be true- we all talked politics and commiserated that so many people in the machuca valley (where we are living) are apolitical, and how this is a time when you cant really be apolitical- there is too much happening to not have an opinion!

We have also had family visiting us for the last two weeks- my parents came for a week and my sister Netta and her dog came for 5 days. While it was great to share with them our world here, my mom fainted in the heat, and netta and her dog burned their feet on the hot sand at the beach- so i think they were glad to see us but also not super jealous of our hot sweaty lives here :)