This One Wild And Precious Life.

So, the daily literary quote rss feed on my igoogle home page has done it yet again. It's prompted me to pause and deeply ponder. And, random chance would have it that it was another Mary Oliver quote that was the catalyst.

I perhaps have been an unknowing closet fan of hers. Despite a Bachelor and Masters degree in Literature, I never once stumbled upon her in my studies--her thought provoking work has only recently dashed across my path and caused me to pull over for a pit stop.

After reading:

"Tell Me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life."
(Mary Oliver, American Poet)

I began to wonder what I am doing--what I will do--with my one wild and precious life.

Dean and I watched "Revolutionary Road" this weekend and for those of you who have yet to see it, it too, makes you think--think about just the kinds of questions that Oliver's quote prompts . . . will I settle for mediocrity, comfort, routine, stability and forgo living out dreams, desires, (non-destructive) impulsive urges, and yearnings? Will the house, kids, cars, bills, responsibilities whittle down my whimsical wants into empty suburban shells of lone gone aspirations?

When Dean and I met, I was in my last year of college as an undergrad and had joined the Peace Corps. I was headed to teach English in the humid and untamed jungles of Thailand. But, when he proposed that I move to Los Angeles with him after 9 months of a make-your-knees-weak-can't-concentrate-sweeter-than-honey romance, I agreed. It seemed exciting--not quite Thailand--but 3,000 miles away from home nonetheless.

Almost a decade later I can say that I have lived a wild and precious life--here in Los Angeles. We have lived out this time in arguably one of the grooviest places to possibly spend your 20 somethings. But now we want more. Both of us.

What we will do with our one wild and precious life?

Now that we have a baby, I do not believe that the answer to that question has to fit into a nicely packaged square box. I do not believe that we have to cease continuing to live the life we dreamed of living, say, before we birthed Noah Finn. I am not being unrealistic. I do admit that accommodations and adaptations and even concessions will have to be made. But I do hold firmly to the idea that a responsible and familial-friendly version of the life you've always dreamed of is attainable--even with a family--even without a large bank account--even if you are told you can't.

Studying the subject for years now that I love, marrying Dean, birthing Noah and being fortunate enough to stay at home to raise him is half of my answer to this question. But I am only 30 years old. I have a long wild road ahead to travel and precious things yet to explore.

Dean and I are deciding now how to answer this question. We have been and still are planning a move in the next few years. We are seriously considering Portland, Oregon. An organic farm just outside of the city limits sounds divine. We have talked about Paris. Riding a red bicycle with a baguette in basket and pants rolled just above the ankle sounds pretty heavenly too.

Silly, you might say? Why, you might ask?

Why not? . . . I would respond. Why not?

So, now . . . you tell me in the comments below if you feel so obliged, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?