The Horrors of Moving « The Zenplicity Coach

The Horrors of Moving

11Aug07

We are moving to Oregon (from Michigan) in just 4 days. My boyfriend, Chris, me and our 2 labs. I’m just glad I get to drive his car while he drives the SUV pulling the 12 X 6 trailer with some of our shtuff. Those dogs brew some pretty horrendous smells in the back of the SUV. You see, we are moving from a 3-bedroom house to a small 2-bedroom apartment in Oregon. We are doing this, temporarily, until we sell this house in Michigan (you know how the market is right now if you live here). You can probably imagine the chaos in our house right now … and to top it off, we are having a going-away party here tonight. Aaagh! Yes, even the Zenplicity Coach freaks out from time to time! ;)But … fear not … I am taking a deep breath and resorting back to my “happy place” to remind myself that everything does NOT have to be perfect. People will understand. These are out friends, after all. Aaaah … much better.

If you’ve ever moved, you know the chaos and emotional uproar it entails.

You have second thoughts.
You feel like you’re forgetting something (even though the house or apartment is completely empty … what, did I forget to look under the floor boards?)
You feel like if your head weren’t attached, you’d accidentally put it in the recycle bin and ship it off to the recycling plant.
You feel scared (what if I HATE the new place? What if I can’t make new friends? What if the weather is bad?)
You burden people you love (Can you come over and help me pack? Pleeeeeease??)
You eat crappy because you don’t want to do any big grocery shopping before you leave.
You worry about getting your address changed and hope that the mail forwards it on time and doesn’t screw up.
You spend too much money (gas, moving, utility fees, hotels, food, etc.).
You bicker because you are ALL on edge.
The dogs get worked up and anxious because there’s all this random shtuff lying around, and they are confused.

My point? It can be one of the most overwhelming experiences of your life. But there is one small difference for me this time. My life has been simplified to the point of “everything has its place” and I know what I need, when I need it, and I know where it is. That makes packing for the “temporary” move to the apartment in Oregon a whole lot easier.

(BEWARE, A STORY LIES AHEAD …)

Back ten years ago, when I was 18, I moved to Michigan from Ohio. I had a lot of shtuff. A LOT of shtuff. You could say I was a hoarder of “things”. I had too many clothes, shoes, 2 sets of unmatching dishes, too much tupperware, junky jewelry, an overabundance of office supplies, old stuff, new stuff … it didn’t matter, I had it. And when I moved into my Aunt’s house, I lived with all this stuff for a few years. It got dusty, and I sneezed a lot. I dreaded cleaning my little 8 X 10 room because I had too much crap. I liked my crap (I thought), so I kept it even though it was unhealthy having so much packed into a little room. I also had to put boxes of stuff out in my Aunt’s garage as well as some of her closets in the house. I was your typical pack rat. It was sort of like a “closet” pack rat though, because I’ve always been very organized, and I could make a lot of shtuff look good by lining it all up like little soldiers. “See, look at all my pretty STUFF!” Only my Aunt really knew the real “me” since I was taking up so much room in her closets, laundry room and garage. It was almost embarrassing how much stuff I had — I felt like a spoiled brat, really. It wasn’t good.

I moved again a few years later to a tiny loft apartment which came with friendly centipedes. I respected them so much that I decided to move out 2 months later to let them have the run of the place. Then I moved into a friend’s parent’s house. Then I moved back to my Aunt’s. All the while, most of my boxes remained in Aunt’s garage & closets. How rude of me. Then, I moved out again into another friend’s house. That friend became my fiance, and we were together for 5 years. It didn’t work out, and I had accumulated even MORE stuff. Now, I was moving into a small apartment with a girl friend of mine. It was at this point that my stuff started bothering me, so I started to pare down, finally. Little by little, I started throwing stuff out. It was the most cleansing experience of my life. It’s like I was throwing away things about my past that I didn’t like. It felt so good.

Then, I moved in with my boyfriend Chris a couple of years later, and this is where we reside now (Michigan and off to Oregon in 4 days!) My stuff no longer rules the house, and it no longer rules me. Once pack rat, now minimalist … it is possible.

Sometimes The Horrors of Moving (especially 7 times in 10 years) is worth the end result — less stuff and more time, creativity and love. Just thought I’d share with you the real story behind The Zenplicity Coach. We all have to start somewhere.