Beginning in the Middle

And so as I approach the 49th anniversary of my birth I find myself preparing to drive away from everything I know.  When faced with the question "What do I want to do next?" there was no answer.  At that point, it became clear that I wasn't going to find the answer in a city that has been home for over half my life, because it is simply too comfortable and too full of people who know me.  I need to be away from expectations and entanglements for a while.

A friend sent me a Tennessee Williams quote that is exactly right:

There is a time for departure, even when there's no certain place to go.

Amen.

Because she is particularly gifted at coming up with a turn of phrase, she wrote about her own experiences moving onto the Next Big Thing:

It is a feeling of taking oneself and one's goals and dreams seriously, and bravely giving all of that one's very best try. 

Can I have another amen?

Of course there's more to it than me just leaving.  Or maybe there's not.  There's a lot of backstory, as there always is in someone's life, but the simple truth is that I have decided that the best way to figure out the next chapter of my life is to wander away and spend some months in the 21st century equivalent of solitude:  being in places where you don't know anyone, even if those places have lots of people in them.

Another friend gave me the name for this blog.  "You're going on a walkabout," she said.  "Well, really it's a driveabout."  Exactly.

I'm not leaving for a few weeks yet, but I thought I'd start blogging now largely because I was inspired by my friend's e-mail and quotes.  Between now and then there probably won't be much of interest here because, frankly, wrapping up one's life isn't very interesting to anyone but the person who is doing it.  But sometime in mid-November I will set out and it would be fun if you might travel along with me.  Metaphorically, of course.  Because this is an adventure I am taking alone.