So long, farewell (well, I hope not!)

I've taken a big step in the last few months. I've set up a language-editing business, Skaian Gates English. It's a little scary but I'm hoping it will take off in the next while. Hence why my posting has been a bit erratic

This will be my last post here.

And I'm not one bit sorry, because the Skaian Gates is moving on. I've got my own domain and set up a Wordpress blog.

So come visit The Skaian Gates and we can pick up from there!

And Happy St Patrick's Day to you all as well.

Talking Point

Last Sunday morning's Dialogue2010 discussion left me floating for the day. Apart from the wonder of talking across continents and timezones to nine other women, I felt very much like I'd talked to some of my oldest friends. The fact that I've spent a few hours in the company of some of them, a few months of twittering with others and some were completely new acquaintances really did not present any barrier to our discussion which was both personal and broad-reaching.

We all have two things in common, an artistic/creative drive and links to other cultures. I found myself asking through the day were we sharing our hybrid lives because of our creativity or because of our experience of being expats. The two seemed interlinked and yet separate, like a binary star about which we orbit.

A few highlights:

Judith's insistence that a sense of humour is needed to live this hybrid life and her comparison of the Netherlands as chihuahua to the US's great dane

Elmira's analogy of a hybrid life being like a high definition television compared to black and white and saying that she was forced into this hybrid life by her parents choices

Rose's knowing laugh at being asked by Judith whether her core took a while to catch up after she moved to Turkey, her leaving perfectionism and impatience behind

Sezin declaring herself to be not just living a hybrid life but to being a hybrid, and finally after years living in the same house with all her journals

Karen's hints that her patriotism has clashed with her expatriatism and releasing herself from the responsibility and obligation that come with being a daughter

Catherine's discussion of leaving behind materialism and stuff to live more fully

Jocelyn on being an outsider all her life and how one serendipitous decision can shape a whole life

Anastasia on how being an expat can involve leaving behind independence and extroversion

Tara and how her values have been strengthened by her expat life, of how she is both and neither

There were so many other wonderful moments in this discussion that I will come back to explore in future posts as they seep through my mind. The podcast and transcript will be available at some point so you'll all be able to hear what these great ladies had to say.