Manifestation
–noun
1.The act of manifesting or disclosing what is secret, unseen, or obscure; a making evident to the eye or to the understanding; the exhibition of something by clear evidence; display; revelation.
I was talking with another CFA* the other day. One, such as myself, who came here and fell hopelessly in love with Newfoundland. She and her husband are USian and had been looking for an alternative domicile outside of the U.S. for many years. They found it here nearly 8 years ago.
We both shared what we thought was extraordinary and powerful in the ongoing lives we have built here. She mentioned that anytime she and her husband have felt the lack of an essential item in their lives, it has found them or they have found it. A true manifestation. In several examples from the small to the large, she offered the following - she had a desire to work for the Canadian federal government. In her husband's case it was to be a full time artist and to build a sustainable life style. They are also both environmentalists. She is now working for the federal government and he is an artist. And they grow most of their own food.
In my life here, the strongest desire was to be a full time writer and that has manifested itself amazingly with the debut of my play very soon. Along with a slew of other manifestations too long to list. But I will sometime.
What shocked us both was the level of intensity around our feelings for this island, which is not the land of our birth. We were both almost embarrassed, shy, to admit to the Newfoundlandlers around us that our feelings for this wonderful place gets more deep as each year went by. And this had never happened in our lives before.
*Come From Away
I have exactly the same feelings for my home of 16 years, the Big Island of Hawaii. I love it here.
ReplyDeletewhat a great post...i have this feeling for NB. It is something i can't explain either...I deeply love my Family in Germany and at times miss them terribly but i don't think i could live there again.
ReplyDeletethat's intriguing and makes me want to visit. I love the place I grew up in but it is over grown, with too much traffic and too many tourists so, even though I imagine living there again, I don't know if I could do it. I live in a gorgeous setting now which is also attracting more and more tourists. Even though it is beautiful and a good place to live, I don't have that deep attachment I do to my childhood home. But people often envy us for living here.
ReplyDeleteHattie:
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I'm not alone in this! I hear wonderful things about Hawaii and would love to visit some day.
XO
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Twain:
ReplyDeleteI love Ireland, the land of my birth, and my family there, but it did not fulfil me in the several attempts of trial runs I made at living there again.
Newfoundland does this on just about every level on my being. Even though, like you, I miss my family and friends.
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Zuleme:
ReplyDeleteNewfoundland would welcome you! And perhaps you would feel that almost visceral connection too, who knows. Not everyone does of course.
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I tend to fall in love with any place I live for any amount of time, but there are a couple of places that feel sacred to me: Savannah, GA where I grew up and Jerome, AZ where my mother grew up.
ReplyDeleteAll I know is that I'm a European and not an American. I don't know if I've found my spot here yet, but it's generally where I belong.
ReplyDeleteI've never felt that intensity about anywhere I've lived. I expect most people would say the same. You're lucky to have found your natural home.
ReplyDeleteAmazing indeed. Newfoundland or Narnia? Or perhaps it's just New-Found-Land to everyone who finds it.
ReplyDeleteMarcia:
ReplyDeleteI lived in a place I despised for around 18 years (suburban town in Ontario) and enjoyed Toronto and all it had to offer very much (total of about 18 years there) but never felt as I do about Newfoundland.
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Nora:
ReplyDeleteI think you feel safe there, judging by your writing. And well taken care of. You would not have that life in U.S.
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Nick:
ReplyDeleteI imagine it is rare alright. I think people who jump like I and several others did, to a place where "no one knows your name" indicates a certainty. And passion.
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Laura:
ReplyDeleteIt is very well named I think :-)
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WWW, two manifestations that tie in neatly with your post. We used to drive through Pune where we live now on our way from Mumbai to Hyderabad, which was my late wife's home town. We fell in love with Pune seeing its climate and laid back people and decided to retire to it in due course. We bought a home with the idea of letting it out while we paid off loans so that by the time we retired it would be free of repayments. Circumstances forced me to change careers and an offer that I could not refuse for a new position opened up in Pune and I took it up and we have lived here from much before I was due to retire. My son and I love this place as much as you do your island and for us this will always be home.
ReplyDeleteI've never felt the kind of intensity you describe about a country or place - you are fortunate indeed WWW.
ReplyDeleteI struggle to fall in love with Oklahoma - it's not going to happen. It might happen in New Mexico or Colorado though - but moving isn't really an option.
Ah well - maybe in my next life....