Moving, for the first time, has given me perspective.
It's not a frantic race, this time, since we've packed so much ahead of time. We've whittled our possessions down to the bare minimum, stuffed every nonessential item into a box and taped it up, and the shelves and dressers and drawers are all bare.
What a relief . . . what a wonderful thing.
The absence of clutter is so peaceful. Nothing for Mia to shove into closets or drawers. No toys mounded in corners. No knick-knacks being moved into odd places. Just bare shelves and quiet.
We can really live with so little. We have our in-season clothes that we're still wearing. The medicines and makeups and lotions that we use and keep handy for emergencies. The food we're eating. Minimal dishes. Half a dozen books. A small box of toys for Wales. The computers are all still hooked up. The television, but only one game console. A dozen dvds and games. That's about it.
And no one really misses anything that's packed. Which makes me wonder why we are bothering to drag it all halfway across the country.
Yes, I love my books and my Pfaltzgraff dishes and the knick-knacks I've collected over the years. But I don't NEED any of them. I could walk away tomorrow and still be whole, still be me. I'd just be free of the clutter.
I'm thinking that we might not unpack everything right away when we get home. I can't imagine re-cluttering the house. There are things I want to buy, yes. BIG pictures for the walls, real art prints in vibrant colors. But those aren't clutter, really, they just hang on the walls. A rug for the floor. A new chair. Big things, objects in and of themselves, not more things to pile on a shelf or cram into a cabinet.
Sleek, spartan, and spare. That's my new motto for home decoration. But colorful. And comfortable. And . . . still mine. Still with some of the things I've collected. Just . . . not so much. And not all at once. A bookshelf doesn't have to be crammed tight with books, after all. It can have empty spaces, here and there.
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I keep meaning to come back and reply to your reply to my comment but even when I stop by and read, my 6-month-old doesn't make it too easy to type! I'll pray for you in relation to the move, and for you and your sweet baby in relation to the pregnancy and birth. Btw, it's not D who may be "on the spectrum" -- believe it or not, he's almost 7 already -- but his younger brother -- I'm thinking he very well may be one of those who would have been thought just slow in the past as a child and eventually end up catching up and seeming or actually being basically normal, whatever that is. But we love him and are grateful for him no matter what.
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