Moving House

I can't think of anything more disruptive in life than moving house. Of course, it's really moving home because a house is just stuff but a home is life. Picking up and moving all your earthly possessions is a big deal, regardless of what anyone says. If you've ever done it, you know what I mean.

Just yesterday we were driving down a windy street with a few friends. The driver was telling us about a time he was driving this very street and spun out. It was a cold winter day and he hit a patch of ice, black ice. His car spun around and faced the opposite direction. Without thinking about it, he tapped the brakes, cranked the wheel, and spun back again. His friend was impressed. This was some 20 years ago. Here he's reliving that experience because he's never moved.

THAT is what I'm talking about. People who have moved can't share those kind of experiences while driving the same street.

Sure they have memories, and I'll tell my stories to anyone who'll listen. Point is, you can't tell it while driving the same street, so it looses, it's relevance.

Picture packers in your home, wrapping all your personal effects. Things like your family pictures, trinkets you collected, your favorite books. You watch as they load them into the container. You realize you'll not see those items again for three weeks while you live from your suitcase.

Moving across town is different. You can always visit the friends if they are just a few miles away. If you move states, it's a completely different game. If you move from Hawaii to say, California, you're talking about visiting once a year. If you move to Georgia, maybe every two or three years. This is a long time. When you finally see your "old" friends, they look, well, old!

Moving is a big deal. It takes two years before your phone begins to ring like it did in your old place. It takes two years before you get invites on a regular bases. It takes two years before you feel as though you fit in.

They say moving is a great way to get rid of stuff. Now I can testify to that. You don't want to pack it, you don't want to unpack it. So you end of selling or giving it away. That's a good thing. It's like being in a fire. There's no way to retrieve it. It's vanished.

But, by far the hardest hit is your children. If I had to do it over again I'd say that I'd rather live on the street then move home again.

...dave
Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. -Albert Einstein