Dematerializing

I dreamed last night that a tornado was headed my way and I had to evacuate. I had to choose what to take with me. The setting was the family home in Charlotte, NC, where I lived for much of high school and a little bit of college. I threw the cats into their boxes, grabbed all the files from the file cabinet, and then sought out heavy things to weigh down the car just in case things got all Storm Chasers on my ass. I won't tell you what I think about the meaning of this dream - except that I think it's pretty obvious.

Things are going well here, I'm as happy as I can be, given that I am 4,000+ miles from everyone I love. I have a great roommate, my work is satisfying, I party all the time with intelligent and gorgeous French people. Il y a pire, c'est pas mal. French is becoming the language of my mind, which is frustrating because I have a very limited French vocabulary. Still, after a glass of wine it all becomes much easier, and charm speaks its own language - an important one here in polite France. My friend Gael, the bartender at Cafe Pop, says "At best, he is becoming French. At worst, he is becoming an alcoholic." Not really. But a little.


There seem to be opportunities on the horizon, given the interest of my colleagues' agents in me. It's possible that I could have a real career in Europe. I mean, it's all conjecture just now, but I'll say that it feels much more possible than it ever did in my Hollywood days. But that means I will have to live - or spend large chunks of time - in Europe. Which is not Alaska by any stretch, but it is not Atlanta either. Just when I had decided that Atlanta is my forever home, and started looking for condos.

My roommate Morgan and I geek out on the fact that we are both Third Culture Kids (TCK):

“

A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents' culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.

”

Morgan's Australian parents raised him in Switzerland, from which he moved to the US for university and then stayed a few years doing theater; he moved to Australia for the first time in his late 20s. I was born to English parents in the Texas and raised in the L.A. for my early childhood, then raised for 7 key years in different parts of England, then did the key part of my adolescence in the South, and spend long periods in other places as my parents exchanged custody. Morgan and I feel like bros to each other after less than a month for the fact that we both know that it's not a place, but the people in it, which make your life what it is. Which is true, Dear Reader, absolutely true.

So, I am a nomad. I always have been. It's likely that I will be for a long time. Instead of feeling uprooted or on the run, I simply have to accept this. Yes, the grass is always greener, I will always feel a sense of tristesse whenever I stay for very long at all in the homes of my loved ones that are established and solid with all the furniture of love and community. And those friends will ask about my transient life and gasp at the itineraries and lovingly invite the slideshows. My life is pretty cool. I am very lucky. I need to quit it with the tornadoes and really stand in this life, wherever I happen to do it.

This is the introduction to a series I'm calling Dematerializing. I am trying to find out how to live the best possible nomadic lifestyle. I have one suitcase, one carryon, and a small backpack. I need a tuxedo.  And I must be able to carry it all up 5 flights of stairs (because I don't always have Abby Gaskins with me). Your suggestions for how I can fit all of myself in, and still have room for souvenirs, are gratefully accepted.