Life is all about change. As soon as you feel settled into a new normal, here comes the change. Sometimes change is welcomed with open arms; other times you're running as fast as you can in the opposite direction. One lesson I learned is that the more you resist change, the more difficult the transition is.
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| Moving Day last year. Notice our subtle excitement. |
James and I are moving into a new house in mid-March.This is one of those, "welcomed with open arms" changes. Even though it is positive, I still can feel anxiousness creeping up. I learned over the summer, that in order to embrace the new, it is important to feel the loss and sadness of the old. This will be the third move in 3 years. It feels excessive to me, but each move was necessary. Move 1: First time moving in together. Move 2: Moving next door to my sisters in a better neighborhood. Move 3: Single-family home with a backyard and our own space.
Don't get me wrong, I am really excited. Moving is fun and I do not want to live in our current home much longer. With that being said, I am going to miss certain things about our current home. For one, it is directly next door to my sister, her fiance, and their baby girl. Also, another sister lives on the opposite side of us with her partner. We joke that we have our own compound. I love being able to walk outside and see my family. We recently adopted a puppy, Henry, and both of my sisters and their partners have dogs. I love having walking partners and additional caretakers for Henry within arms reach.
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| Henry with his "cousins" Venice and Luna. |
Fortunately, our new house is only 1 mile away from our current home. I am still able to walk to my sister's homes with an increase from 15 seconds to 15 minutes, which isn't bad at all. Also, we will have a fairly large backyard and our families and their dogs can come over and barbeque.
Writing this post helped me identify what exactly I am going to miss about our little home. It also helps me let it go.
All in all, I am excited for the change. Saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new. Hopefully James and I aren't moving again within a year. I need some time to settle.
You are so cute Ashley!! So proud of you!!! Where is the new house?
ReplyDeleteThank you!! In Upland still. :)
DeleteI'm most excited about the housewarming party. FYI. Pinterest!
ReplyDeleteYes! :)
DeleteThank you for writing about this Ash! I have been a having a feeling very similar to this..maybe stronger about moving and change. I love change and believe it always brings you toward something even better than what you had before. However, every time change comes creeping along, I find myself debilitated with anxiety, worry, what-ifs and most of all, I lose just being in the moment. This has always happened to me since I was a little girl. Donna told me recently that she remembered one day when I was young, you and your sisters and me and Adam were getting ready to go to school (in Santa Clarita) and I guess our Moms came in the room and screamed, "you guys arent going to school! Were going to Disneyland!! Were leaving right now!"
ReplyDeleteOf course, as any kid would, you all screamed for joy and excitement. I started to cry. I was panicked that I didn't get a heads up about leaving right away. I needed time to adjust to the quick change or surprise laid on us. Of course I liked Disneyland but I hated bot being in control or being prepared for that change. Reading this I realize I have had these issues with loss of control since I was young. And now, everyday I struggle to fight that character flaw and let change happen with a greater ease and acceptance rather than panic and fear. Michael and I will be moving to L.A. soon, to live in our "first" house together that we actually pick together and we will be getting new jobs and Il be going back to Grad School. However, none of it is set in stone. He hasnt gotten the job offer, although we are 99% sure he will. I havent found a job yet, one that IS NOT another serving job, one that has to do with charity work or something meaningful. And I havent found out if I actually got into CSUN yet. A lot is up in the air but we know that no matter what, it looks like we will be moving fairly soon. But with all this change and most of it being so up in the air, I find myself struggling to grab hold of land as I spiral from the anxiety of the not-knowing. However, in all this, I am very excited, and concentrating on that piece of it really helps the anxiety of the unknown. I just have to remember to try and stay in the moment. Everytime I find myself thinking of a what-if scenario, I stop and think of something real that is happening right now in front of me. Sorry this was so long and seems like a rant but this is something i have struggled with my whole life and I am so glad you have brought this issue (whether small or large) to light. I hope your transition is smooth and you find yourself happier than you could ever believe! I hope the same for myself and MIchael too :)
Thank you Sarah for sharing that! Soooo insightful! Call me anytime and we can talk about this in more depth. You're doing amazing and on the right track. Letting go is always hard, but necessary. I can't wait for you to move down here again! Love you xoxoxoxo
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