I went to the woods because I wished to live...

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Thoreau.

    I continue to live this, although I'm not often going to the woods. I don't always know where I'm going until I get there.
    I accept new lives, new "adventures", new places and people in life.
    It often means I screw up. It often means I get hurt or hurt others. Always unintentionally.
    But each time I have gone to the metaphorical woods, I have learned more of my place in this world.
    Now I've learned that sharing a life with others is possible for me. My place in this world has changed. It is still changing.

"I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary."

    I am living the life I believe is right. I believe this new home with this woman and her daughter is where I've needed to be for a long time. I am home.
    This is life.
    This is living. In the metaphorical woods.
    I may still be a bit of a bull in a china shop when it comes to living, but at 50, I get a sense that I don't need to thrash around as much. (Besides, most of the china has already been broken...)