Leaving Beautiful #Arizona
There’s an old saying, ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all’. Every time I think of leaving beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona, I feel the sadness ooze through me. I ask myself it it would have been less painful to never have come to this place we don’t want to leave so we wouldn’t feel the unbearable sadness of having to leave the desert and mountains and our friends behind.
Of course deep in the core of me I believe it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved, just as I know, a taste of living in Arizona this winter was better than feeling the continual hunger to come back here. But we all know we can’t just eat one chip.
I’ve been to many places in my life, had fantastic times, felt sad to leave, but once at home it was good to be back in my own bed. But from the first time I visited this state, for only one week, I felt the pull; a pull that tugged so tightly at my soul when leaving, I didn’t want to go home.
Since the first time I left Arizona, not one day had ever passed that I didn’t imagine myself there or wish that I was there. Now that I’ve had 2 glorious months here, it is infinitely harder for me to leave.
I’m a firm believer in the ways of the universe, and what you focus on is what comes to you. I don’t know how or when, but I know nothing is more at the forefront of my desires than to live here. So I’ll have to believe when the divine timing is right, Scottsdale, Arizona is where I’ll be laying down my cowgirl hat.
DGKaye©2016
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dgkaye
D.G. Kaye is a nonfiction/memoir writer, who writes from her own life experiences and self-medicates with a daily dose of humor.
73 Comments
Sue Vincent
I understand that pull all too well, though for me it is the hills of the north.
dgkaye
Well your chances are good Sue; since you’re already in the same country. 🙂
Sue Vincent
It does sort of help 🙂
dgkaye
🙂
adeleulnais
I hope you get to live in Arizona permanently soon.
dgkaye
Thanks Adele for your lovely wishes. I sure hope so. 🙂
Deborah Drezon Carroll
I can already see you placing your boots beside your bed. It’ll happen, Debby. In the meantime the dreaming is a good muse.
dgkaye
Absolutely Deb. If we truly get what we focus on, it’s inevitable! 🙂
Deborah Drezon Carroll
Hope so!
marianbeaman
I have a feeling you will return. You must!
dgkaye
You’ve got that right! 🙂
LindaGHill
Lovely photos, Debby. 🙂 I know just how you feel – I’m the same way with Japan, though I can’t see myself living there with the kids… the kids will always be my life. But it’s great to visit!
dgkaye
Thanks Linda. And I hear you about uprooting your life and kids to a totally different world. I have no kids so if our dollar may turn into something of value one day, I will be thinking about uprooting. 🙂
LindaGHill
Ha! Yeah, really bad time to be buying US dollars, eh?
dgkaye
Brutal! 🙂
KC
I used to live in Scottsdale… A truly glorious place. My best friend still lives out there and I have taken Pat for a short visit once. She definitely wants to go again. I hope you had the chance to visit some other places while you were out there. 🙂
dgkaye
Lucky you! And you still have opportunities to visit and stay with friends. Oh yes, I went to a lot of beautiful places. Arizona is truly a beautiful state. 🙂
teagan geneviene
Aww Debby… I nearly cried reading this post. When I left the southwest, I had no idea just how much I’d miss it. Nor could I have imagined that I would be here so many years…
Nothing “just happens” — we have to continually take at least baby-steps toward what we want. Ultimately we are the only ones accountable for taking up the pen and writing out next chapter. Sometimes I think my pen is out of ink… ( 🙂 ) But I have to keep trying.
Mega hugs my friend.
dgkaye
Aww thanks sweet Teagan for your comforting words. You know how I feel very well, in fact I’m sure it was much worse for you, for you actually lived in the southwest. And you’re so right, ‘nothing just happens’. We have to build our dreams to make them come to fruition, and that’s what I’m doing. Please never say your pen is out of ink. There is always another pen my friend. You and I will search out the right ones eventually.
Now, I’m so behind in blogs, I’ll never catch up while trying to catch up on ‘real life’ since I got home. I’ll visit you soon. <3 xo
Larry & Lois
We miss you already hurry back to Arizona. tell George to hurry back so the sugar bowl won’t go out of business.
dgkaye
You guys crack me up. And I have to believe this comment came from Larry, his partner in ice cream crime! <3
John Maberry
Before you pull up your Toronto stakes, visit in June or July to make sure you don’t mind the heat. There won’t be any humidity so it won’t be that tough but you have to keep all parts of a vehicle shaded at all times that you’re not in it. Please do come visit New Mexico some time too. But the Southwest is great, all over. That’s why we moved here five years ago.
dgkaye
Hi John. Lol, forget June. I was there in August 115 degrees, loved it! And you bet I plan on getting to New Mexico, so have the coffee ready! 🙂
D. Wallace Peach
That went by so fast! Is winter over already? Glad you had such a wonderful time. My brother wants to retire there – a good place to hang one’s hat 🙂
dgkaye
Sadly, yes, Diana, it is over, back to the grindstone. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to retire there. 🙂 PS. I just found your comment in spam! Thanks to a friend who can’t figure out why I can’t see her comments, she reminded me to check spam and there you were with hers. Grrr. Sorry for the delay in response. 🙂
D. Wallace Peach
No problem. My comments go into spam every once in a while. I have no idea why, but I think it must be me. Oh well. Welcome home 🙂
dgkaye
Thanks Diana. And you were not alone this time. I thought it was ironic that 3 blogging friends that frequent here were sent to spam jail, lol. )
Let's CUT the Crap!
Sad for you. Hope you get your wish if that’s what will make you happy.
Sleeping in your own bed will the sadness take a back seat. <3 <3
dgkaye
Hi Tess. Thanks for the words of wisdom lol. True, our own beds are always a welcome comfort. And sorry for the delay. I just fished this comment out of spam! Thanks to my friend Sue Dreamwalker, who kept trying to write a comment that wouldn’t show. She told me to check spam and there I found her with a few other blogging pals. Darned wordpress! Lol 🙂
Let's CUT the Crap!
Whoopsie. WP like to stir things up every so often.
dgkaye
Lol so true! 🙂
Carol Balawyder
Welcome back home…if only to dream of returning once more to Scottsdale.
dgkaye
Thank you Carol. My plate is full, so please excuse my absence for a few days catching up with real life. 🙂
Carol Balawyder
Oh, I so, so understand!
dgkaye
🙂 I’m sure you do.
Deborah Jay
That’s how I feel about Scotland. Funny the names should be so similar…
dgkaye
Oh yes Deb, half a ‘Scot’, lol. And maybe one day the universe will place us all where we feel most at home. 🙂
Deborah Jay
I’m certainly planning on giving it a push in that direction 😉
dgkaye
🙂
Sue Dreamwalker
Beautiful Photo’s Debbie and sometimes our hearts just know where we feel at home.. I remember when I visited Canada and climbed up a mountain called Sulphur Mountain never in my have I felt such a calling as if I was Home as I looked at the view beneath me..
Sometimes I feel our spirit has been there before..
Looking Good Debbie for your rest out there..
Love Sue xx
dgkaye
So glad I saw this comment Sue. I absolutely agree that our spirit knows when we’ve been and/or lived somewhere before. I know this is the case with me. Thanks for letting me know you weren’t getting through here. xoxo <3
Sue Dreamwalker
Just glad it is all sorted and you Un-spammed me.. Sometimes the spammer control then keeps on spamming us.. So pleased You fished me out .. 🙂 xxx
dgkaye
My pleasure. I fished out a prize! <3
Sue Dreamwalker
🙂 lol thank you for saying so. But you are the prize.. Love the photo of you.. You look relaxed and happy 🙂
dgkaye
Aww, thanks Sue. Seems like a distant dream lol. xo
Sue Dreamwalker
Yes its a shame we come back to earth with a bang when we come home from our vacations.. I do so hope your hubby is Ok too.. Love and Hugs xx
dgkaye
<3 <3 Thanks Sue. And yes, it's a little like waking from a dream. :)
Sacha Black
aww, I really know how you feel, when you finally find that place that feels like home, its more than just bricks and mortar. I have a few places that give me different feelings. Nepal and the himalayas is a spiritual kind of enlightened place for me, I have a tug for that place because of how much it changed me in three weeks. New York, well now that feels like the place I am meant to be. If a city was made for a person then that was made for me!
dgkaye
Isn’t it funny how we all seem to find a place somewhere other than home that we gravitate to? I love hearing about all these ‘pulls’ others have from their own experiences. And I think you’d fit in as a New Yorker anyday. 🙂
Sacha Black
hehe, honestly in love with the place. I hope one day I am rich enough to live there!
dgkaye
Oh, do I hear you! 🙂
Hugh's Views and News
Yep, I know that pull of life as well, Debby. When I first visited London, I fell in love with the city and wanted to live there. I ended up spending 27 wonderful years living there.
I hope your trip back to Canada was a good one?
dgkaye
I’m over my head trying to catch up on 2 months missed here. Not fun, lol. I’ll be a little longer checking out blogs, but I’ll get there. 🙂
Hugh's Views and News
Take your time. Spring is on her way ?
dgkaye
🙂 Thanks Hugh.
John Maberry
If you were fine in August, you’ll be fine anytime in Scottsdale! Before we decided on Silver City, New Mexico we checked out towns across the Southwest from Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. When we narrowed it down to Silver, we spent five months there in an RV to be sure. You may not need to do that but I know people who moved somewhere only to return because they later decided they missed their friends, didn’t like the weather, etc.
dgkaye
Well, I love the weather and the southwest. I have a very small family left, no kids, one best friend who lives in the U.K., another that would follow me anywhere to visit (and stay warm, lol) and many other friends I’d probably get to see if I moved somewhere warm, more than I do now, lol. And of course my writing world and writing friends are right here on the net. 🙂 So I’m ready! 🙂 It’s all about the mighty dollar.
Sherri
Firstly dear Debby, you look amazing! I’m so glad you got to spend two months in your most favourite place in the whole world…but, my heart aches for you as I know that pull so well. I used to feel that way every time I visited my family back home in England when I lived in California for almost 20 years. I got to the point at the end where I didn’t think I could keep doing it, the pain became so great every time I left. But…although I’m back home now, a big part of me will never leave California either. Oh I wish I could give you a big hug and we could sit and have a cup of tea together…and then polish off a few glasses of wine 😉 Beautiful photos…I hope you get to go back again very soon dear friend <3 xoxo
dgkaye
Sher, you’re truly compassionate. I know about your life in two places since I befriended and began following your posts. You and I aren’t alone. There are many, and some have even left comment here, who feel a gravitational pull to somewhere else.
You know that what our heart truly desires, if we focus on it, it comes to us. You felt the pull to go back to England, and you did! Of course now you have wonderful memories of the 20 years spent in Cali. That’s what happens when our hearts are big enough to hold a lot of love. You’re now happy where you’ve longed to be back, and taken some wonderful memories from living somewhere else. You are blessed.
I know that if I got to ‘fish my wish’, I’d be happy in my heart, and of course I would have a lifetime of memories from where I’ve lived my whole life. But a new chapter is always exciting, and I shall always look forward to my dream one day coming to fruition.
In the meantime, I have a life here to live and sort out, and I know when the universe calls me, I’ll be ready. 🙂 xoxo <3
Thanks for sharing your heart as always. <3
Sherri
And I know that you’ll never stop holding onto your dream Debby…you’re so right about focusing on what our heart truly desires coming to us. It really is true. It’s as if as it lives with us it becomes us, defines us, calling us to our new adventure when the time is right, but also giving us the strength to seek the blessings in the daily life we are given here and now. I had a fridge magnet for so many years (Mary Englebriet!) that said ‘Bloom Where You’re Planted’. And that’s just what you’re doing. It’s a special place to be, right in the middle of our desires and our reality. It took me a long time though to understand that 🙂 It’s wonderful for me to share these thoughts with you because I know you understand exactly. And that means so much to me. Thinking of you Debby as you settle back into your life back home and I hope you have a productive but restful weekend, and I’ll see you next week, if not before lol 🙂 xoxo
dgkaye
The feeling is quite mutual Sherri. We meet people for seasons and reasons, I always like to say. Kindred spirits attract, and truly that’s why we’ve connected! I know you understand things as well as I do. What a divine connection.
Wishing you a lovely weekend Sherri, and I’m sure we’ll cross paths somewhere in the blogosphere, lol. xoxo <3
Sherri
Yes, I totally agree Debby…kindred spirits indeed! It’s so wonderful to connect with you here dear friend <3 Thank you…and yes, I'm sure we will!! And if not in other places too! Big hugs for a lovely weekend and see you soon! 😀 xoxo
dgkaye
<3 <3 Sherri.
Lorna's Voice
It’s wonderful to have found a place that calls to your soul. I’ve found my place and I’m there. It’s heaven! 🙂
dgkaye
Well you are blessed Lorna. I’m glad to know you’re happy. I gathered that from the end of your book. 🙂
Lorna's Voice
Hope you enjoyed the read!
dgkaye
Your book? I sure did. I wrote a review on Amazon and Goodreads. 🙂
Lorna's Voice
Oh, thanks so much! 🙂 <3
dgkaye
🙂
elainemansfield
May it be so. It’s so important to feel harmony with home. For me, AZ is a great place to visit in the winter, but the summer heat is too much for me. I hope to spend some time there next winter with a friend who lives near Tucson.
dgkaye
That’s great Elaine. Maybe we’ll meet up then. How strange we live a few hours away by car now, but we’d probably have a better chance of meeting up on the other side of the continent, lol. 🙂
Vashti Quiroz-Vega
Hi! Those sunset pictures are amazing and you look great! 😀 xx
dgkaye
Oh thank you so much Vashti. Truly the most beautiful place in the world I’ve ever seen such sunsets. 🙂