July 31, 2013
Moves from home to home are never fun. I think that statement pretty much says it
all. They aren’t. There is the packing, the loading, the
tossing out of things, the wondering why you bought this, that, or the other,
the bad knees and aching backs. There is
the worry of where you are going to put all that stuff, and the cost of the
whole ordeal.
For reasons I’ll not go into as they are irrelevant to this
post I left a long term marriage and a home I had lived in for 25+ years. Do you have any idea how much “stuff” one can
amass in 25+ years? A lot let me tell
you. That move had me heading to
Illinois. As a lifetime Michigander, a
people who more often than not look down on the Illinois-er…Illinois-an,
whatever…it was a hard move, but a necessary one. I moved as much as I personally could schlep
into my Ford Explorer, and let me tell you, that Ford Explorer held a great
deal.
I arrived in Illinois, unpacked and lived for a time
with a friend, only to pack up and move in with Left Brain. Move number two came in half a year.
When it came time to leave that house we opted for a smaller
house that was more affordable for us. A
very wise move. The economy was very
rocky and the smart money was on those who had not overextended.
When you downsize you find quickly that you have too much
stuff. Not only did we have to deal with
Left Brain’s large collections of books, shoes, clothing, papers, keepsakes
etc, we had also to deal my stuff and all the things that were too large for
the house we bought. Sadly, the house we
were moving too could not fit the bookcases that Left Brain had to have for the
1500+ books that he was moving (yes you read that right). I know that had to hurt him and so that hurts
me.
We weeded through some stuff. Left Brain moved a lot of the stuff he had to
go through, which I find a little backward, but whatever works. I started seeing that having less stuff isn’t
so very bad. The less you moved, the
better you felt! I don’t just mean
physically but for me emotionally it was better to divest myself of cumbersome
things I didn’t need. Left Brain finds
this a bit harder. Part of it is his
frugal nature. He is so sure than one
day, down the pike, he’ll have need of one thing or the other that he keeps,
but the truth is this, he rarely does, and so my thinking is, “get rid of it.”
We move into our first home together. I loved it other than the stairs. I swear our first house in Michigan will have
no stairs. It is neat as a pin but the
garage is piled up for far too long with…stuff.
We still need to work on our downsizing skills, but it is lovely. Our first home that is OURS together and I
love it. We are there a year when Left
Brain is laid off. Scary thing, but we
were wise and can afford this place on one income. He looks and looks for work in the state but
finds nothing. He does, however, find
work in not only my home state (Michigan) but my hometown!
Left Brain moves there to see how it is all going to work
out. He leaves our home in February and
thereafter only returns on weekend visits to me. It is a hard few months but I begin the
search for work in Michigan. I am very
fortunate to have blessings untold in the job hunt. I accept an offer that makes me happiest and
guess what? For the fourth time in 3
years, I move again.
This move was hard as it was from one state to another. This move was easy as it takes us to a place
where the people still wish you a Merry Christmas and are kind to each other
(by and large).
Yes, we still have stuff in Illinois in two teeny storage
lockers, yes we are in a two bedroom
condo for a year while we look for a home, but we are together; happy,
growing in love and assurance each and every day.
What I’ve learned from moving so much is this…
-Never let stuff
be so important that impedes your movement to better things.
-Never have so much stuff
that the quality items in life can’t be enjoyed due to the amount of useless stuff.
-Appreciate the things of value and learn how to discern
what is merely stuff.
-Realize that living a more simplified life, one less
encumbered by stuff, can be not only good, but excellent.
-Why are you saving the good bedding or dishes? USE them or lose them.
-There will be a time when you look back and think, “I wish
I had kept that (insert item)” but those times will be few and far between and
the good thing? STUFF is easy to
replace!