I wrote here

The Moving Out Diaries: Vol. 6 📦

My office for the last 39 months

Hi friend,

On the 1st, we moved almost all of my belongings to Tall Man’s house. Then we came back to The Lighthouse, went out for dinner (where we had reasonably good service!) and spent the night on my mattress on the floor. In the morning, we only had access to a kettle, my French press, a couple mugs and spoons. I had unplugged the fridge to sell it, and couldn’t store anything fresh or cold. So we drank black coffee and ate instant oatmeal, like we were camping, and waited for Sasha to arrive.

She came for a couple of the big things. My couch is now her sofa and lives in her living room. The fridge is in her kitchen. I love that I know where so many of the things I bought for The Lighthouse have gone on to live. Most people who picked things up shared stories of why they were buying an item and what purpose it was going to serve in their homes. The dresser in the guest room will continue to be a dresser in a guest room—now, for when a couple’s nieces and nephews come to visit. The dining room chairs were added around a local couple’s table so they could host more friends this summer. The big mirror was first going to be used as wedding decor, then brought into the married couple’s home. And the young woman who bought my bed frame was moving out and furnishing her own place for the first time. I thought about her after. About how expensive it is to setup a home, and how overwhelming it can all feel. A few days later, I offered her a couple boxes of things that lived in my kitchen. She came back to pick it all up and is now drinking from my glasses and eating from my dishes.

As part of this series, I thought I might write a post about what it felt like to declutter most of my belongings again. How it felt to get rid of many of the things that had felt like self-expression at this age, and made The Lighthouse feel like a home. I also thought I might write about the sunk cost of it all. As I worked on that post though, I realized it doesn’t really matter… I had some thoughts and feelings, and then they passed, and now I’m in a new place—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The journey to stop ruminating started in this home and I am grateful.