I am in the final stages of my third move in four years. I refer to it as The Gypsy Years. Moving is hard on me. As a person who starts to take root in a place if she stands still for too long, the constant uprooting is mentally, physically and emotionally wearing. This one is a big emotional move. I have lived in the same town for almost twenty years and am now heading out of town into the country. It is not as bad as when I sold my home of fifteen years, but close.
So, I am trying to stay positive as once again I sort through my stuff and put it all into boxes. Depending on the day, I could be excited, depressed, frustrated, snippy or a complete basket case. D. has had his patience tried a few times with my whining.
The ugly part of moving to me is:
1- Canceling / transferring utilities and mail. There seems to be a huge margin of error involved here. I have spent up to six months trying to find my mail and have had to make frantic calls to certain utility companies that did not get the change info correct. Nothing like not having water or electricity when you need it!
2 – Finding homes for all the stuff. This move is especially bad. We are trying to cram 10 pounds of poop in a 5 pound bag. One of my recent homes was 1300 square feet. For some reason I was able to live very comfortably in that space with both my kids. This time D. and I are having an awful time trying to meld our 30+ years of household stuff into roughly the same amount of space. It will just be the two of us 90% of the time!
3 – The decisions. All this sorting, packing, storing requires enormous amounts of decision making. It wears a brain out. How many glasses do we need? Whose glasses do we keep? What do we do with the glasses that we don’t need? Which kid could use more glasses? Where should we donate the glasses? When do we take the glasses to Goodwill? Multiply this a few thousands times and you have a couple of frazzled, brain fried people you do not want to spend time with!
The good part of moving:
- Letting go of what you don’t need anymore. This process can be physical and/or emotional. I had the very freeing experience this week of actually lighting a fire in the fire pit and methodically burning two large boxes of legal and financial records that had very bad memories attached to them. That was a great way to start a new phase in life.
2. Finding lost things. Every move I find something that I thought was lost forever. Usually it is a sentimental item that got packed up in a weird place. I love those little surprises.
3. Shaking things up. A move brings new routines, new furniture arrangements, new places to explore and new people to meet. These are the things that I enjoy about a move. I get to look at my old possessions in a new light as I find a new place for them and I have already discovered a lovely new garden nursery and met the owners. There is a growing list of places I intend to go draw and paint and a coffee shop and a fabric store that is calling my name. I also love to take a road I’ve never been on and see where it goes. I have plenty to choose from this time and all with beautiful views of mountains and forest.
Next week is shaping up to be the pinnacle of all things happening at once. My Dad is bringing my bees (will post about my beekeeping escapades soon), hay is being cut and will have to be put in the barn (not my favorite farm chore) and all my big furniture has to be moved. Keep in mind, we still have to work. There is a high probability there will not be a post next week. I’m sure there will be good stories to tell the following week though!
Until next time, have a wonderful week!
Photo by Dominik Lange
Pencils, Paint & Paper 