I recently have been working with a family that was moving to a new home. Even though the move was totally discretional, every member of the family was feeling ambivalent leaving their current home - especially one of the children.
When I walked through the house one last time with the new buyers, the place just wasn’t the same. Oh the walls and floors had the same colors and textures, and the smells hadn’t really changed, but the cadence of the home was gone. Without a family living there, it really wasn’t a home anymore -- it was like an empty container that needed to be refilled.
Moving is such an emotional experience and fraught with anxiety, financial commitment, and conflicting desires. On the one hand, you want to downsize, upsize, relocate, move to the city, move to the 'burbs, get on with your life, or _________________ (just fill in the blank).
On the other hand, moving is changing and altering current reality. One can’t help but feel conflicted. It’s no wonder that sometimes people find themselves stuck in a home that makes no sense anymore. They’ve outgrown the space or their knees can’t handle the stairs or the yard is taking too much time or ....
I recently went through all these emotions with my Dad as I helped him downsize from his cottage to an apartment at Lake Forest Place. I had no idea that I would feel all of the same emotions that sellers have when they change homes.
While going through this move with Dad, it really hit me. Our lives are like chapters in a book. With each new chapter, comes change and perhaps even new venues or settings. Moving is part of life, because life is about movement.
