Homer tells us how the Sirens want to draw Odysseus in with tempting stories of what he once was. They know he wants to return to the active world, the world of simplicity and straightforwardness but Odysseus won't be wrecked on the illusions of nostalgia because, as he knows, to live well in the present, nostalgia must be resisted.
You must stay with your ship, stay tied to the present, remain mobile, keep adjusting the rig, work with the swells, watch for a shift in the wind; in short, engage with the muddle and duplicity and difficulty of life and don't be tempted into the lovely simplicity of the past.
Like Odysseus who had himself tied to the mainmast to resist the Sirens, I have been tied to "Riverbend" for the past twenty-two years, resisting the urge to return to a life long past.
Twenty-two years in one place is a long time; longer than any other period in my life. I'm still hearing the Sirens' song and I'm still hoping that one day a buyer will appear and untie me.
