Claiming Your Place At the Fire - #4

Last week, I began writing about the cool book Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose by Richard Leider and David Shapiro.

Here is the link to the first post and to the second post and to the third post. I had the pleasure of meeting with David Shapiro to discuss the book. Here is my last question and David's answer (I've paraphrased his response).

Question: To what degree is Refining your Place really about physical place? How important is being in the right home/town/state/climate to living our best life? In the book, you mention the move that you and your family made to Seattle as an example of finding place. What was it about Seattle that attracted you and your wife? Has the move been everything you and your family hoped for? How do people know when they are not in the right place?

It is not an either/or, it is a both/and. From actual physical place we can find that centering place and through finding our place in the world we can find our physical place. We have all experienced fit and no fit. So yes, we are talking out of both sides of our mouth but that is the reality of it. When I lived in Minneapolis, I felt at home in terms of work and relationships but it never was my home – the place never felt like home. Seattle has always felt like physical home. The goal is to find yourself in a physical place and mental place that works for you.

Why Seattle? Seattle connected with me because I am an avid bicycle commuter, and Seattle is extremely bike friendly. As mundane as that sounds, it is really important to me. In addition the physical beauty of Seattle is incredible. Then there’s an emotional piece that I can’t really articulate – it feels right. When finding your place, often the small things mean a lot and the reason for a place feeling like home is hard to articulate.

I was a good move…

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Finding one's place....this I can relate to. Although my husband and I have lived in the Seattle area for over 5 years, I have only begun feeling at home recently. I have found a few nooks and crannies that I love and have begun to spend time there - places like Elliott Bay Books and Cafe.

Ditto for the other sense of place.

What about you? Is your job a fit? Are you living in a place that feels like home? David Shapiro and Richard Leider offer several examples in the book that illustrate finding place. If you do not feel at home, please do check out their book.

This post concludes my discussion of Claiming Your Place at the Fire. My bottom line review - I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in exploring how to create and live a more meaningful life. Those who are between their mid life crisis and retirement will find particular significance in the book's examples and questions.

Here, again, are the books by David Shapiro and Richard Leider and their links at Amazon.com:

Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose
Repacking Your Bags: Lighten Your Load for the Rest of Your Life
Whistle While You Work: Heeding Your Life's Calling