Do You Ever Ask Yourself, Am I Living in the Right Place?

Do you ever ask yourself, am I living in the right place? It’s a question I ask myself constantly which means there must be some uncertainty in my mind. Where we live is either to do with where we are born, a job or a relationship, outside of that, the question is, do I live in a city/town, countryside, or coastal area? What life stage am I in, and what are my needs?

I live, as I often mention, in London and apart from a 13-year sojourn to the Surrey countryside, which I loved, I’ve been a city girl since 1983.

This week three things happened that helped alleviate the whirring in my head. One was lunch with a friend who came out with a statement I thought I’d never hear from her lips the other was a lengthy article in a broadsheet, the hook being about people who had left cities during the pandemic and now are having second thoughts and the final one dealing with the needs of my parents who are 89 and 91.

So, Juliet runs a very successful recruitment company lives in the country and commutes into town most days announces, that with her children all gone, she’s carving her path out for a less stressful life with her husband and instead of moving to the coast or downsizing to an even more rural idle says she’s going to buy an apartment slap bang in the middle of West London! Why? Because the joy for her is amenities and to be able to walk to every single one of them, even the Dentist!  The Newspaper article consisted of interviews with various people who had left a city but were not cocooned by a family around them, so a little uncertain if being miles from nowhere as they aged was not the best move? A car was essential, gardens and older country houses don’t look after themselves, stairs were a worry and so was security. My Mum and Dad live in a bungalow surrounded by buses and amenities, the Doctors practice is across the road as is the Coop and a Chemist but best of all, as they were both born in this village they have people around them they’ve known forever and I refer to collectively as ‘The Fourth Emergency Service’ – community is definitely the golden chalice. My greatest sadness when I look around the country see amenities closing due to high rents and centralisation, this is a short term gain. What I see now in my own situation and value as I get older are city amenities from the practical to the frivolous. According to the Estate Agent Knight Frank, the most content older people are those who can walk out of their front door to everything they need. We always think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and I did, but now in this age of being a little more grateful for what we have, I’m counting my blessings and seeing the city in a whole new light thanks to Juliet who I can’t wait to welcome and walk over to see her.