Wish you were here!

I've never been good at a daily journal, so maybe if I think about this like a postcard with updates from five house and pet sits across the UK and EU, 10 weeks of travel and a Eurail pass.

Day 27

Look up.

I have said it endless times and believe it to be true. To find the solution, to find the way forward, to navigate the moment, look up.

When you are head down, in the zone, laser focused on a task… great, get it done. There is a time and place for that.

Don’t live there. The view from life in the weeds is pretty damn lousy.

I was completely overwhelmed my first 2 days here. All of it. The specifics, the tasks, the head-down-save-the-planet approach. I was exhausted as I tried to wrap my head around it.

The homeowner and her partner were energized. She was walking her journey through life, on her path. And she loved it. Because, for the task to matter, to be down in the weeds (literally) all day, she needed a north star to guide her. A “why” behind the what. The work needed to have a purpose. A greater purpose than orange peels in a compost pile… 100 yards from the house.

When I got here, I lost my footing in the first 5 minutes and tumbled so far down in a hole I was overwhelmed. The tasks were endless. Specific. Meticulous.

They spent 2 days with me, walking me through every step. In detail.

And for some reason, it was all compounded by the fact that the small shop within walking distance (Le Shoppe—honestly, that’s its name) only takes cash, according to my host. I don’t have enough cash for groceries for the next 5 days.

Additionally, my hosts are back on Sunday evening, but they hope I don’t mind staying until Tuesday because that’s the first time they can get away to take me to the train.

I had no words for any of this. And I was trying to solve it, one task at a time, while hauling water to the crops in the preferred sequence of the homeowner.

They left yesterday afternoon for the sea.

Today is a new day. I have the place and the tasks to myself. And I need to make them my own. All in in all, it not complicated. I am not saving the planet. I am not adopting a monastic approach to life. My job for the next four days is basic: to feed the cat that wanders in once in a while, and to care for the gardens (I still think they are crops, but let’s not split hairs).

There is a difference between doing what they need me to do… and living their life.

I can do the former. I will fail miserably at the latter.

But while they were here, and I was working with them, there was no distinction.

So, this morning, when I woke up, I kept in mind what needed to be done, but did it in a way that worked for me.

After a shower, I walked down to Le Shoppe and chatted with the owner, Sandrine. She has some English. I have some French. We made it work.

Small business owners are at the center of a community. They know everything and every one.

I asked if she takes cards, or just cash. She looked surprised. “Cards? Mais oui! Of course!” Starvation avoided.

Then I asked if she knew of anyone in the village that would take me to the train station (any train station) on Sunday morning. “Perhaps….” She said. She pulled out her phone and opened her local GROUP CHAT and put out a request for my ride to the train on Sunday, and willingness to pay, out to the group.

We exchanged numbers via WhatsApp and she will keep me posted.

There were solutions to the things I was struggling with. But I was so far down in the weeds with the host, I couldn’t think my way forward.

I needed to step out of the moment, ask some questions, broaden my lens…. Look up.

Et voila, solutions.