Finding Your Place

My personal journey

What I’m looking forward to! Cows grazing and Rangle Ranch Park in Sebastopol, Sonoma County

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to leave it all behind and start anew in a completely different place? For a decade, I have wanted to move to Italy, a country my heart has embraced and where I have felt completely at home. This dream, on and off, has faded, mostly because of the now-strict immigration rules, not to mention the investment required to live in the country full-time. Sigh. My ongoing desire to find a similar, simpler lifestyle has led me to research many places, including Santa Fe, New Mexico, the central California coast, and even the east coast.

I have always called myself a free spirit. I took my first airplane ride—alone—when I was six years old. That experience, and many more that followed, settled in my soul, setting my life on a course of adventure. Was I a risk-taker? Heck, yes! I went to France for cooking school without speaking the language or a place to stay. I survived. Then, after a trip with the Rotary Club to Australia, I returned to the US, only to sell everything I owned and move to Perth to explore all that Down Under had to offer.

I finally settled down in San Diego and made my home here for the last 40 years, 30 of them in the house I live in today. I’ve dabbled in the idea of moving but always found a reason to stay: fear. A few months ago, I became a risk-taker again and learned what FEAR really meant. False Evidence Appearing Real. This realization hit me like a brick. What was I afraid of? The unknown? How did I lose my sense of being a free spirit? I made a plan to rip the Band-Aid off and follow my dreams. I see so many people who want to go someplace else but let their dreams fade away. I was determined not to be one of them.

As I read and reread my purpose, I felt something was missing. Here it is. (I am being totally vulnerable here.)

I am a passionate writer who inspires others to live with love and joy in their hearts and seek answers in nature as we all are respected and free to be our true authentic selves.

I had the purpose part but felt stuck and frustrated in other areas of my life. I wanted a more creative, nature-centric location to delve deeper into my writing. In the past few months, I discovered that Sonoma County had everything on my wish list: small, vibrant communities where local businesses shine; a lively food and wine scene; fields of produce, grapes, and wheat; goat and dairy farms; the redwood forests; beaches only 15 miles away—a dramatic change from my current city of San Diego, where the ocean rules the landscape.

What I’ll miss—for now. My daily walks along the bay in San Diego and my May flowering garden.

This longing to experience a new and different lifestyle and environment will land me in my element. The northern California climate is perfect for gardening, and I’ll be able to expand into growing stone fruit and nuts. The abundance of farms and wineries begs to be explored, and locals interviewed for new stories. Hiking trails through forests, like the ones in Jack London State Historical Park, call to me. I get giddy thinking about being surrounded by so many of my passions, more than my lifetime can hold.

Sonoma County is the perfect venue to launch my next novel, The Goddess & The Vine, about wine in ancient Sicily, and to move forward with my cookbook, already in progress. I am also considering holding writing retreats for Indie authors. I am no longer afraid. I am brave!

My house is for sale now, and even though it holds so many happy memories, I hope that the gardens I so lovingly planted will be cared for by the next owners. I am ready to let go of the past and move into a brilliant, shining future.

If you're brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello. Paulo Coelho

Ciao for now,