A Step Away From The City
Recently, after a few unfortunate events happening at our cute little Victorian flat in South East London which we love so much, we had to move out of the city for things to be put back together which meant a trip down memory lane back to my hometown in Kent (I mean it’s not that far away) but city and country life sometimes feels worlds apart. We were back to bless my mum - my brother also returned the same week - with our presence for the foreseeable future (sorry mum) until we’re given the go ahead to move back into the city. But honestly, we’re 2 months into country life, and I’m starting to question whether I want to go back at all.
You know how it can be, London can suck you in and tie you up without even realising it. The fast paced life, the unending options on your doorstep, stimuli on top of stimuli - somehow it becomes addicting and feels so hard to walk away from. What I do know is that London was making me feel pretty anxious, every time I got on a flight back home if I had been working abroad, landing in London tied my body in knots. I’m not completely sure why, I suspect it’s the expectation, the constant hustle and feeling like you’re forever chasing your tail to make ends meet and do all of the things, all of the time. Truth is though I was always too tired to do all of the things anyway so, what’s the point? And yet I say all of this, London was making me feel so anxious - but did I feel like I could walk away from it? Absolutely not.
To step away made me feel like I wouldn’t be a part of something important anymore, like I’d have to give up all of the opportunity around me, almost as though I’d be devolving. Writing that down makes me realise how crazy it is to think that way, but London makes you feel relevant just by being there. It’s been the simple things that have really helped me connect with country life; being able to go for a stroll in the woods every evening after work has been the best addition to my day. In London, there’s only so much greenery where we live, which we’re very grateful for, but you can only walk so far before you hit another bustling and busy high street. So having this vast, expansive space around us has truly been an amazing nervous system reset, and not only that it has been quite the lifestyle change I think we needed.
We will be returning to London in a month or so, let’s see how we feel when we get back there, maybe we would have missed all the little conveniences we’re overlooking right now - everything is a give or take at the end of the day. Not to mention the ease of being able to walk to a coffee shop or collect your groceries rather than jump in a car all the time. I do miss my local coffee shop I won’t lie. But all of this, the lifestyle pivot, this forced “break up” with London has got us thinking and realising, that life does in fact exist outside of the city. So much so that perhaps we’ll make an even bigger change next year and explore a completely different way of life.
