Moving: It’s a Beast! (but not a burden…)

We have moved many, many times in our 30 years of marriage. We’ve made several international moves, cross-country moves, across-town moves, you name it. There’s something exciting about getting a fresh start…and something daunting in the process. Well, we’re at it again!

In every place we’ve moved, we’ve had new experiences and learned from each one. Now approaching our mid-50s, we are hoping this cross-country move will be our last…but who knows? One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that you never know what’s around the corner, so you’re either going to bend, or you’re going to break. We’ve gotten to the breaking point many times, and with age comes wisdom (thankfully), and this time around, we’re simply bending…but MOVING IS still A BEAST!!

In packing up a 3000 sq ft house to simplify for a home which is half the size (picture of our new home is above), is a big ask. But at the same time, I’ve felt the joy of “getting rid of” the accumlative excess. We were fortunate enough to come across a young family who just moved to this town we’re leaving, and moved less than a month ago with the clothes on their backs and not much else. What a joy it was to bless this family with good quality, well-cared-for items that we had to get rid of, but were things they needed! When you can bend, not hold too tightly to possessions, it’s amazing how things just work out for everyone’s benefit! There’s such a joy in giving! (And the return karma can be pretty sweet, too.)

Organizing new mortgage paperwork, putting our current house on the market (and it’s not selling as fast as we’d hoped….know anyone who wants to buy a great house?!), filing change of addresses, activating new bank accounts, hiring a moving company, packing boxes – and oh, the cleaning – our physical and mental muscles are screaming. It’s good for us, though. When you’re in the flow, come what may, you bend and tame the wild beast.

We’re moving to an area of the country that is much more fertile than the desert we’ve lived in these past five years: much more rain, mountains with all the wildlife that comes with it and a culture that is much slower-paced, not as materialistic, and where neighbor helps neighbor if needed, but mainly keep to themselves unless otherwise asked. We like that. It’s been a dream to live in such an area for several years, and so we lived purposefully, and now our dreams are coming true.

One thing I’m going to miss about living in the desert, however, is not the dust, the lack of amenities, the lack of being able to grow my own food, etc… it is the prickly pear! I love that cactus! In doing some research, however, and hearing from people in mutual social media groups, I’ve been encouraged to bring a couple cuttings with me, because they’d probably grow there, too! So I did:

Although MOVING IS A BEAST… it definitely DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A BURDEN! Enjoy the journey. Adventure awaits! Live purposfully, and you’ll get there eventually. Tame that nasty fear of the unknown, use wisdom and go with the flow, and that MOVING BEAST can, and will be, TAMED!

P.S. I hope our house sells soon. That will go a loooong way in taming the beast we’re facing right now! But even if there are no offers before we move, we’re moving anyway (with purpose)! Carpe diem.