Moving on is an important part of life everyone should strive for. Moving, meaning the act of boxing/unboxing/packing the car/renting U-haul/etc., is another part of life no one really strives for.
I recently became a homeowner. I will soon move with my family to a new house. It is the typical American house, with a nice front yard and a beautiful backyard. I am basically becoming a new Homer Simpson (which means I need more beer in my refrigerator and a decent load of donuts). So, should moving be considered a positive or negative activity?
The physical act itself is pretty tedious and stressing. Living for days between boxes – which are inside another huge box called ‘house’ or ‘apartment’ – can really make someone go postal. It requires organizational skills that most people, including myself, do not have. When moving, the mission is to save time and space. Not because aliens are invading us while our galaxy is colliding with a parallel universe, but because every possible step has to be taken in order to avoid additional and often ineffectual work as much as possible.
Moving means to reinvent the self, to reorganize the house and to reinvent the whole handling of issues. Schedules are changed, roads are different. Bills will be sent to a different address; even the driver license will be different.
So, from a certain perspective, moving is one of the many faces of ‘moving on’. Old habits will have to be left behind and a page will have to be turned.
As Leto Atreides warns young Paul in ‘Dune’ “A person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing you to grow. Without them, it sleeps - seldom to awaken. The sleeper must awaken. ”
In other words, moving boxes from an old house to a new one is nothing more than the preface to the new experiences. Looking for the house, signing the contract, meeting the title lady at the title agency and moving the boxes can be defined, using John Campbell's method, as the 'separation' phase.
And later comes the mysterious part. Every new adventure brings challenges. The 'initiation' phase will begin as soon as we start sleeping in the new house. This will happen next week. What lies ahead? Is it possible to know or at least to have an idea? For sure I will have to fight with Texas' heat. Temps are way too high for grass to grow in peace. Bugs, snakes and maybe some scorpions will try to defend their kingdom and I, as Conan the barbarian, will have to destroy it. Who'll be the last one standing? I will prevail!
