A long goodbye
Once upon a time, I lived in an 1880s farmhouse. It was huge and rambling with a wrap-around porch, a secret back staircase, gorgeous wood floors, and an amazing amount of attic space.
I bought it with my now ex-husband. And we did a full renovation to make it as close as we could come to my dream home.
We put in a beautiful kitchen with a giant island and a commercial sized refrigerator and freezer. We turned a bathroom into a pantry - a whole room just for food!
And in the main bathroom, a large tiled corner shower with dual showerheads and a claw foot soaking tub. Just look at this baby:
We didn’t have much land, but I built as many gardens as I could - vegetable gardens, pollinator gardens, even some small fruit trees. I cultivated a four-leaf clover patch.
I loved this house. I raised my kids there. And I truly thought it was where I was going to be forever.
And then I got divorced.
Somewhere in the process, I realized I wouldn’t be in the house forever. That I didn’t want to be in that house forever. Which made me love it and appreciate it more.
It was in that house that I found myself.
It was in that house that I reignited my love of journaling.
It was in that house that I wrote my way into the life I wanted to live.
It was in that house that I wrote my way into the person I wanted to be.
I sold that house in 2020. And our move was so chaotic that I didn’t really get a chance to say a proper goodbye.
Last week, I got word that my house was back on the market, so yesterday I swung by the Open House. I walked through each room, remembering the joy I felt there -
Reliving the memories. Feeling grateful that I had been able to live in that beautiful house. That it had been my home.
And that soon a new family will call it home. I hope they love it as much as I did.
Use these prompts as written or as inspiration to uncover what you need in your life this week. And know that I’m always here to support you and answer questions you have along the way!
Write about where you live. What is special about it? What do you love about living there?
Write the story of your life through the lens of the places you used to live. Record all your old addresses. What did you learn about yourself in each home? What did you love about each one? What stories do you have about living there?
What does home mean to you?
Have you ever felt at home somewhere you didn’t live? Where was it? What were the circumstances?
One Journaling Idea I Love:
Guided Journals
Guided journals are wonderful for starting a journaling practice or for breathing new life into an existing one. Guided journals come in all types of sizes, styles, and themes, and the most important thing when selecting one is to find one that resonates with you. Look at the prompts, the illustrations, the thickness of the ruled lines. Feel the paper and make sure it’s compatible with your favorite pen.
Here are some of my favorite guided journals:
You Are the Magic You Seek
Affirmators! Journal
MiGoals 90 Day Progress Journal and Planner
More Good Stuff
Good Things Come to Those Who Journal: The Livestream - I’m out of town at a conference through Tuesday, so no livestream this week. But I’ll be back next week, Tuesday, May 9.
Registration is open for my May journaling group, which begins on May 8. Our theme for the month is Better Money and we’ll be digging into our relationships with money, how our archetypes influence those relationships, and what we can do to improve and strengthen them so we can welcome more abundance in our lives. Want to see if it’d be a good fit for you? Let’s have a conversation! Know that you already want to participate? Cool! You can register here.
Happy Journaling!
Really great post, Amanda! 😊
"It was in that house that I wrote my way into the life I wanted to live."
I love that concept.