On the Move

In case you're wondering why I haven't blogged in awhile, I've been busy moving to a new apartment. Now, my friend Rosemary says that moving is one of Dante's levels of hell, but I'm actually enjoying it. This move, like everything else this year, is proving to be wonderfully cathartic.

I actually started preparing about two months ago. With past moves, I've usually waited til the last minute and then had full-blown emotional meltdowns from the stress so I was determined to do things differently this time. So after finding my new digs, I started collecting boxes and packing up things. When I got down to it, I realized I could pack at least half the stuff in my apartment because I could easily live without it. That gave me pause. If I can live without something for two months, why do I need it at all?

Then came last Saturday, when the movers discovered that yet another slew of boxes (containing stuff I just had to keep in the last move but that I've been living without for the last three years) came out of the storage unit in the basement crawling with mold. Several of the boxes went straight to the trash, and you know what? It turns out that I didn't need that stuff either.

So now I'm sitting in my new living room, barely able to get to the computer desk with all the piles of stuff surrounding me, and I can't wait to open every single box. I'm looking forward to pulling it all out and going through it and sending a good chunk of this stuff on to new lives with friends or strangers or maybe the nearest recycling center or dump. Because I have a new lease on life this year, and it's given me a powerfully new way to look at everything in my life, be it stuff or thoughts or beliefs.

This year I have learned to ask, Is this serving me well? And if not, why am I hanging on to it? And if I'm not ready to let go of it right this minute but I know I should, what do I need to do to prepare myself to let go? It's so easy to go from day to day, not really examining what's stuffed inside our closets, our drawers, our minds, and our hearts. It's so easy to walk the same steps we've always walked before without ever asking if there's a better route. But this year I was forced to stop that, I've been forced to look and listen and change and let go. And I'm so much better for it. I'll be even better for letting go of a lot of this stuff.

When you free up space, there is room for better ways, healthier thoughts, more creativity. I'm clearing a dance floor in my home and within myself, and baby, I'm ready to dance.