Earlier this year, I went on a mission to see the Northern Lights. I followed a string of good fortune all the way to Iceland where I found them dancing in the freezing night sky in all their magnificent glory. You can read all about it here. Now I’m on a mission to find their polar opposite, the Southern Lights (aka the Aurora Australis), in Tasmania. Although it’s the exact same phenomenon, it’s rarer to see the aurora in the south because even the most southern tip is that much further from the magnetic pole than land in the north is from Santa Claus’ house. Still, Tasmania is a lot closer to home and home is still the operative word!

I was hoping that by the time I leave tomorrow, I would officially be the sole owner of my home but the process of buying Matthew out is taking longer than anticipated. To fill you in on the progress since my last instalment, Matthew settled on a lawyer and signed the agreement to end all agreements. I met with my lawyer to add my own autograph and in doing so, cut the final cord. My new mortgage is approved and I have signed the next 30 years of my life over to it. All that remains now is for it to be processed, stamped and filed – then everything will be official.

My trip to see the Northern Lights earlier this year was inspired by a need to prove that I could live a bigger life than the one that had left me behind. Bringing it to fruition took all my focus, intention and attention. The whole question of the house, as largely as it loomed, was pushed to the other side of the adventure. When I came back, having accomplished my mission, I squared up to the daunting task of keeping my home though reason seemed to be stacked against me. Had I allowed myself enough time, I might have worried more that it couldn’t be done but as it stood, I only had enough resources to focus on how it could be done… and so it almost has been.

This trip to Tasmania is ostensibly about catching my breath and taking time to acknowledge with infinite gratitude the second ‘miracle’ I’ve managed to pull off this year… and we’re only half way through! But more than that, it’s my hearts desire to experience the Southern Lights as the perfect bookend in my quest to keep my home, which, in a way, started the night I saw the Northern Lights. At the time, I described the visual effect as being like a rift opening between possible worlds. I chose that moment to metaphorically step through and accept another reality. Though the time since then has been brief, I now find myself at another threshold – the house was the last thread that connected Matthew to me and now it is severed. There could be no grander entrance into a brave new world than through those shimmering curtains of light.

This final stage has been gruelling and at times I didn’t think I would make it. I’m not there yet but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and this time, it’s pointing due south!