Sweet as: Packing and purging

Moving is hard. We say it like it’s no big deal – “Oh, we’re moving across town” or “I’m relocating to San Francisco for work.” – but it’s hard. I have a completely new understanding of just how hard it is, now that I’m wholly engrossed in the process.

Making the decision wasn’t the most difficult part, actually. Frankly, that was probably the easiest. But making decisions EVERY SECOND OF EVERY MINUTE that I’m thinking about the move?  That’s hard. Should I bring this? Should I donate it? Sell it? What about storing? Could someone that I know use this?

Seriously – enough with the questions.

And then the mess. For someone like me, who likes to keep things tidy and (mostly) organized, it’s totally unsettling. Moving upends everything I know and love about cleanliness, about order, and about maintaining a clear path to the front door. It just can’t happen while packing up stuff from the space I have called home for the last 8 years. And the 3 additional years  in this city in 2 other apartments. And the things I’ve moved from 2 other apartments in New York City!  I wouldn’t have called myself a hoarder, but it’s shocking how stuff accumulates.

And so I’m packing things up and making decisions, like the artwork I want to keep. I don’t think I’ll move it to my new destination, but I don’t want to lose them either – each one has meaning to me, and I will want them some day. So they’re all going into those odd-shaped boxes (the ones that didn’t fit into the car while flat) and they’ll go into storage.

 

I wish this photo could do the chaos justice. This is only a snapshot of what it takes to categorize every single item in my apartment – especially those things that I shoved onto a shelf and left to collect dust for a few years… Or those articles of clothing that were still hanging in the closet “just in case”.  As my very wise friends have offered, if there’s a clause that precedes the answer to the question, “Do you love this?”, then the answer is “not enough.”

I should have taken pictures of the car, stuffed full with bags of clothing and accessories to be donated to local charities. I realize how fortunate I am to be able to give back, to have the excess to share. I hope that the new owners love the garments as much as I did.

There’s so much more to say about packing and moving…  Stay tuned for more of the saga!

 

One Reply to “Sweet as: Packing and purging”

  1. Moving is a good way to get rid of those things we haven’t used or thought about for a long time but still seem to hang out in our closets.

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