It's been a little over three years, to be exact, that I've been in 'paradise', and I don't say that in a facetious way, but there are some things aspiring paradise dwellers would be benefited in knowing.
First of all, my experience in paradise won't be yours. You will have your own. Second, I haven't been around long enough to see the span of decades, so I don't fit that mold of paradise dweller, which some do, and neither am I connected in a generational way. I'm just a visitor that has happened to stay for a very long time.
I've been lucky enough to live my dream of living in paradise and today, walking the beach, while looking back to where I was at mentally when I first landed to where I am now, a sort of wistfulness came over me for I have changed since then. I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere, and haven't been for a long time, but the tourists certainly are. They have sand draining from their hourglasses and so must pack in a multitude of experiences in a very short time whereas I have all the time in the world. The difference between me and them is Grand Canyon-ish in that regard.
However, looking back, I definitely know what they are experiencing. They came here from some frosty place on The Mainland and were upon arrival met by a balmy breeze. Leaving the airport they marveled at and pointed out to their companions the numerous free range chickens running about, and were eager to make their way to the ocean, the beach, and the chair there awaiting them, a chair similar to the one I parked in for two straight weeks upon my arrival.
Back then sunsets were worth sticking around for and many a nearly naked body did I eagerly observe, some amazing in their tightness and physical beauty, others best left covered. You just don't see that sort of thing anywhere else!
I imagined that were I to while my days away in that way I would be perfectly content but found that you can only hang at the beach for so long. Sooner or later you have to pack up and leave.
His version of paradise
Jason Briscoe- Unsplash.com
Tourists have no problem doing that, it's expected, they run around, here, there, everywhere. Restaurant, guided tour, snorkel excursion, helicopter ride, luau. They drive every inch of the island in their rental cars, or slowly cruise the strip. Fine dining or local fare is daily sought out, and the next brings the same until their vacation time is exhausted. Once their time in paradise is up they fly 'back to reality' but my stay in paradise is indefinite so I go back to work.
I'm glad to be working for without that I would be hard pressed to oh, fill up the preponderance of time each day brings. I would eat too much, watch too much TV, start hitting the beach at dawn or some crazy hour for the morning jog, read every book known to man, or take yoga classes. Paradise, you see, can only be taken in doses for it is very rich food. It needs to be balanced with leaner fare.
Her version
Jakob Owens- Unsplash.com
Why? Because living in paradise you find you need contrast. For example, if it's the same temperature every day- which it is- you don't notice it anymore, do you?
One thing about living where I do is that we're so far south that there really is no change in seasons. Is it The Fourth of July- or Christmas? Who can tell? There is little variation throughout the year between the hours of light and dark so there is no need for Daylight Savings Time. Think about it- no long summer evenings, no early winter darkness. Always the same. No contrast.
I've got a notion to turn this line of thought into a series because a lot can be said about living in paradise, and a lot of people come here, so they might want to know what it's like to be a resident instead of the others- the 'ten days and gone' people, the 'three days on this island and four on another' people, and the 'people with kids in tow' who hit the island like a whirlwind of noise and constant tracking (and feeding) of kids and what they're up to and never really experience anything else but that. Believe me, I've seen it.
So. More to come, when the muse beckons me to fill in these many blanks of: (what It's like to live) Three Years In Paradise.