Lately I have been reminded just how strange human beings act at times. As a professional writer, I am used to my fair share of rejection. But I recently wrote about our amazing journey of moving here to an iconic lighthouse and shared a link to the online version of the article with numerous family members and friends, all of which one might reasonably presume to be happy for and supportive of us. But the reaction was tame to say the least, with a response rate hovering in single digits.
Hey, I get it: we are all busy living our own lives and inundated with distractions. And therein lies the problem, as I write about all the time (but that is another post). So, forgive me if I am preaching to the choir here, but if any one of our loved ones shared anything approximating the awesomeness of what we are experiencing, Linda and I would be over-the-top enthusiastic and expressive about it.
To put this slightly in perspective, of 65 lighthouses on the coast of Maine (which has the second most of any state), only eight offer short-term accommodations, and we are the ONLY private citizens to live year-round at one. It is so above and beyond the norm as to defy description, but the reaction of many people supposedly close to us has been one of apathy or envy, or both, I am not sure which.
Oddly, it has been total strangers that have been the happiest for us, and we have enjoyed giving several of them personal tours of our residence, much to their surprise and pleasure. Linda and I love sharing our good fortune with other people, as I can only imagine my reaction if someone offered to do the same for us were the situation reversed. Indeed, several people have exclaimed that they have never met actual “lightkeepers” before, and even asked for pictures with us.
So, what is my point in sharing this here? It is to try and remind us all that we each have feelings and it is important to support one another in our endeavors. All the claims of busyness and distractions are bogus, to put it politely. In this revolutionary time of technological tools, one has NO excuse not to communicate. And if any of you want to come for a visit, we will leave the light on for you!