A friend tells me that moving is second only to a divorce in terms of causing stress. Being un-married (hence having no clue about divorce stress), I can say that moving is tough. However, this might be the easiest move of all. I moved from one floor to another in the same apartment building (which I like a lot as it is very convenient from work/life perspective.) I got rid of about 40 percent of the stuff I had — by either throwing it away or packing it away to storage.
Moving is a weird sort of experience. The very act of packing and unpacking makes you confront the past and with it some sad memories (and happy ones too.) I came across photos of my grandparents, me as a kid with my baby sister and some of my friends from back home, whom I have not been in touch for nearly three decades.
You come across clothes that are too small because you are fatter and older. You find shoes that make you wonder – what was I thinking! And often you come across old notebooks that remind you of stories not written. But I am not going to get caught up in the memories and I am thinking about this move as a chance to start afresh.
The new apartment is the largest apartment I have ever lived in. I can feel the air around me. There is a certain roominess to the place that allows me to see everything I own. And frankly I don’t like a lot of it. I would be pruning away a lot of stuff. It is easier to have fewer things and appreciate them by using them more.
The best part is that I actually have a home office. I have struggled to write at home because of lack of a space that was conducive to thinking and writing. Of course with the office has come the conundrum of organizing it properly with the right furniture and good environment. I think my old writing table (from my bedroom) where I wrote notes and in long hand isn’t going to cut it. It is ergonomically wrong. Nevertheless, I am finally enjoying the Apple big screen monitor who has now made a new friend — my Macbook Air.
PS: The new office is the reason you are seeing a torrent of posts from me today!
