Morning Thoughts-- Experiencing Different Realities

I am finding it difficult to keep up my blog because it is about Mexico daily living and I am not in Mexico at the moment. I am still in Portland. I will be here until the 27th of August. My life is so different up here that my daily routines in Ajijic are quickly fading out of my mind. Funny how that works. I think, like me, most people have a hard time keeping more than one reality at a time in their heads.

Life is so all encompassing. We are bombarded with input from all sides, especially in a city. I believe that is why it is difficult for people to imagine a different kind of life than the one they are living. I have a friend here who is going through a hard time. She could have a much better life in Ajijic, with more friends and more spending money on the same income. But no matter how hard I try to convince her, she can't imagine it.  She is stuck in the thought that she must continue to be lonely, stressed out financially and unhappy.  No other reality seems possible to her. 

I could show her a thousand photos of Ajijic but that wouldn't make an impact on her. Nothing can beat actually experiencing a reality with all our senses. I get many e mails from people, expressing their fears of taking the plunge of moving to Ajijic. They ask me so many questions. I could spend all my time answering questions but my answers wouldn't make as much impact as ten minutes of the people actually being in Ajijic. Feeling the warm air and smelling the wonderful fragrances of the flowers and meeting the friendly people.  The freedom. That is how I see it. Freedom. The worries and stresses of modern living just slip away.  Life becomes much simpler.

Take away the long car rides that are essential to city living, life gets simple very quickly. Take away the crowds and people can risk being friendlier to strangers. We usually don't feel as threatened in smaller groups.   Take away the high prices and that stress is gone.

I could go on and on but I think I am preaching to the choir.

I fantasize about taking a vacation to a foreign country this winter (other than Mexico) but I am having the same problem of not being able to imagine it clearly enough to make it happen. Years ago, I spent four months in Thailand. At that time I didn't have any back, ankle or knee problems.

Getting older makes traveling more difficult. But mostly the problem is having the courage to take the risk. Fear of the unknown seems to get stronger as we age. Maybe it is because the longer we live, the more bad experiences we have had and the more vulnerable we feel. We are always vulnerable but younger people haven't been hurt much and so they feel more invincible. 

I will be here another month. I am enjoying what Portland has to offer. It is a beautiful city.  Especially in the summer. But I miss Ajijic. I also miss Chico. I hear from my friend, Lois, that Chico is very happy there. He has become the boss of all the other dogs. Yesterday, he was on her couch and dragged a second pillow from the couch and put it on top of his pillow and got on them both to sleep. That is Chico all right. He loves soft places. 

I wonder if there are some soft places waiting for me in Thailand......