Introducing me -- Hello from Vancouver Island

Hello. My name is Judy. At the time of joining Steemit, I am 65 years old, and I live on Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada.

I grew up in Swaziland, Africa. However, I have spent most of the last 40 years in Canada – albeit with stints in the USA, Australia and New Zealand as well.

I love reading and writing. My favorite outdoor activity is hiking. I also am interested in meditation and veganism. I enjoy traveling and experiencing different cultures.

Though I am interested in history, I'm curious about the future too. For example, at the time of this writing, awareness of cryptocurrencies is growing in the mainstream population. I am watching with interest to see how the relationship between conventional, fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies unfolds.

I have been married twice. I have two sons from my first marriage. They're in their thirties. Though they were born and raised in Canada, they both went into tech, and currently are in Silicon Valley.

My first marriage lasted for 35 years. I feel as if my first husband and I have made peace with each other. Our communications with each other are cordial, for example, in exchanging news about our sons.

My second husband and I were together for six and a half years. We've been separated for a little over a year. The circumstances leading up to that separation were more difficult than those leading up to my earlier separation. I have not "cleared the air" with my second husband. But, after reading "Radical Honesty" by Brad Blanton, I am pondering how I might go about doing that.

I live in a cohousing community. Cohousing communities differ from each other, in that they may be comprised of separate houses, they may be an apartment building, or they may have some other physical configuration. Two features that cohousing communities have in common with each other are: (1) consensus decision making, and (2) a common house, which is a central structure in which members sometimes get together.

My cohousing community is a 25-unit apartment building set on four and a half acres, with communal vegetable gardens.

From the beginning, we've had a potluck dinner in our communal dining hall once a week. As time has gone by, other meals or mini-meals have been added. For instance, afternoon tea on Tuesdays, coffee on Saturday mornings, a barbecue on the communal patio on summer Sunday evenings.

We each do some volunteer work to keep the place ticking over -- gardening, cleaning, shoveling snow, etc.

In "negotiating" my relationship with my cohousing community, I still am searching for the balance that feels right to me. On the one hand, the sense of community that we have here means a lot to me. On the other hand, I also value my freedom. For example, I would like to head to a warmer climate for a couple of months during our winters. My volunteer work currently includes an administrative position which is at its busiest in winter. That is incompatible with my going away, and it's something I would like to re-negotiate in due course.

I think it's fair to say that finding balance is a persistent theme for me -- finding a balance between having relationships with other people on the one hand and pursuing my individual interests on the other hand. Too little in the way of relationships feels lonely, but too little independence feels stifling. There's a sweet spot somewhere in between.