Adventures Ahead: The Lake Moon

I got my 6th USA work visa approved on Thursday in London and now I can allow my trip to feel real.

It’s been 3 years since I had the real freedom to leave the UK for a long-ish period of time. I’ve been pretty poorly in-general and then clinical placement or school work and money had been other reasons. But I’ve pined for this opportunity again.

When I left America in 2013, it was with a heavy heart – I didn’t know if or when I’d be coming back. And I certainly believed that I wouldn’t be coming back to work, maybe only for a small holiday – if I was lucky. In fact, every summer I get to see feels like a blessing.

Last year when we got to do our clinical elective in Canada and Boston last year, I felt what I had been missing.

For the past 3 years I’ve wandered the streets of Leeds on sunny days and closed my eyes and willed myself to think I’m back in New York. The sun, the heat, the buildings when you look up towards the sky, people pushing past you and back to back traffic in the city center is enough to trick yourself that you could be in NYC. I go to the movies and the smell of popcorn and coffee makes me feel like i could still be in NYC. Sometimes I hunt down all the food I love to drink and eat whilst in the USA to try and muster that same feeling; thai-tea, pangang curries, guc, chips, salsa and good tacos. But they’re all weak immitations.

I frequently have dreams of just walking around NYC and they’re freakishly real.

So I decided, last year, whether I could afford it or not – that I would work really hard to get to spend my last summer there. In the place where I was broken and found. A place where it made me believe in myself, showed me the kindness of strangers – people who I had only worked with whipped around & paid for my medical bills, and treated me like I was part of their families. The country with many people who have helped me believe that I can be and am an artist. Who completely inspire me with their unwavering work ethic.

Just like Barack, all my life, I have been stitching together a family, through stories or memories or friends or ideas. And these guys helped me put it all together and made my stitching stronger.

But now it’s all real, all pretty much official. I’m going back.

I’ve had many years thinking about how if you’re lucky enough to be doing work you love, it’s your responsibility to plan for the day when you can’t do it anymore. And it’s been hard.

I leave Leeds in 3 weeks. I arrive in NYC on the 17th June. We’re going to go to catch-up with amazing friends, go to art-openings, find the best bagel (still not managed it!), eat the best cheesecake on the beach, ride the Wonder Wheel, I’m going to draw, drink those favourite drinks of mine, sit in Williamsburg and complain how gentrified it’s getting, look over the city from roof-top bars and watch the sunset over the East River. I’ll wonder the streets at night, trying to take it all in – so I can continue to close my eyes and take myself back there when i need it the most.

Then we leave the crazy bustle of the city to  go a place that’s pretty cut off from the world. Basically no internet. No public transport once you get off the island by boat. We’ll arrive at Sandy Island – an island in the middle of a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and tress/forests in New Hampshire. This will be home til September.  The moon sets bigger than my head here. Deer and bear roam, and you can fish or chuck pebbles into the lake from the sandy beach.  And you can lay on the baseball field and watch the milky-way & countless shooting stars. It’s pretty magical. It’s a good place to try and figure things out, to learn how to reconnect with people without having technology blare out for attention at you. You can literally leave the ‘real world’ behind.

We’ll then leave New Hampshire for a quick stop in NYC and then to San Francisco, CA.  I’m excited to run up the hills and skate down them. We’ll make fires on the beach and eat pizza whilst the sunsets. From here we’re going to Napa-valley, CA – drink some wine whilst paddling in fresh water in fields of vineyards whilst the sun sets. And go hiking in Yosemite, CA.  We’ll go back to fly out to Maui, Hawaii (a state I’ve yet to tick off my ‘life-list’ – making it 43 states I’ve visited!). Here we’re renting an apartment on the beach with turtles. I’ll hunt down the best acai-bowls to eat, and we’re going to hike some volcanos, surf and relax on the beach after the relentless work this past 3 years has taken.

Then we’re flying back the Seattle, WA – I’ll be re-connecting with some of my friends who are artists working on really cool social projects. And We’re taking the training to Vancouver, Canada – then back home!

And I CAN NOT WAIT. 

I’ll be chipping away at my bucket list – now re-named ‘the life-list’, making art, helping people with their projects, writing, taking photos, and working on myself, helping others. I’ve a million ideas for new projects, but I’m trying my best not to start anything. For a little while, at least.

Follow along if you like!
Life can seem so challenging sometimes. It’s a scramble up a rocky cliff that feels like it’s two grabs away from a landslide. But we’re not meant to do it alone. And we don’t have to do it all at once. Take time to take care of yourself and look back to see just how far you’ve come

“Time is space. You are moving through that galaxy. Wait for the stars.” – Matt Haig