A Moving Experience

A Moving Experience

By TLB Contributing Author: Lucille Femine

You think I’m talking about some emotional thrill or sudden awareness that moves you out of ignorance regarding some aspect of your life or life in general. Something spiritual, right? Well, everything is ultimately spiritual but let’s get on with it.

I’m talking about the purely physical act of changing your location and all the stuff you drag with you. Or claims you, rather. Yes, they can own you, those innocent pieces of wood, fabric, leather, steel, etc. You truly don’t become aware of how trapped you are until you have to lug them to a new space with back-breaking, exhausting effort. In my case, it was followed by a long 700 mile drive in a Penske truck with little sleep and a grouchy driver. I could have taken a quick plane ride but I was too cheap.

However, with each item you pick up with a waiting box nearby, you often ask yourself, “Do I need this??” I soon adopted an operating stable datum – When in doubt, throw it out! Or sell it. In fact, I spent a good deal of time on Ebay listing stuff, delaying the end of packing. This new thinking was also prompted by the sheer volume of boxes in my face.

But lo and behold, each time I crossed the threshold of hanging on to letting go, I ingested a small amount of freedom rather than a moderate to severe loss, as one might expect. The experience was the same as literally lifting them off my back.

Arriving, of course, is part two of the nightmare. Often, it comes with wondering if the electric and water companies REALLY cancelled the services. Is the change of address actually going to reroute my mail? Or is “going postal” now policy in that aspect of government services? Do my clients really get it that I’m moving, despite writing it in every email in bold letters for three weeks? Or do I have to wait weeks to get payments?

These are my personal worries but I’m sure you can match the essence of them with your own.

Assuming your new space is better than the last, this certainly makes up for the physical and mental stress. All you need to do is keep that pleasantry uppermost in your mind, even though it’s severely burned out and apparently useless, only good for assessing where the coffee is.

So how do you escape the “uprooting psychosis?” I didn’t but I made some headway. After taking certain calming vitamins which did nothing, I decided to simply sit quietly every time my world threatened to eat up what sanity I had left. I just sat there, looking around at whatever was in front of me and do my best to stop the chatter in my head. Of course, this came AFTER the coffee!

This can be difficult to do but with practice, it works. Even a few brief moments of silence in your mind will drain worry and anxiety like cleaning a clogged pipe. For a while at least, you are not ruled by all that fake emotion and you are operating from YOU ALONE. I hope that makes sense. But, you will only know when you try it.

I offer this bit of advice for YOUR moving experience and for ANY stress in your life. Planet Earth should be renamed “Stress Land”. But YOU are something else, a being much greater and amazingly powerful. That thought, once you fully adopt it, is the golden thread that runs though life, weaving itself into everything you do and feel, no matter how negative. It can all be transformed into a peaceful joy as well as the satisfaction of accomplishment. And more love for others.

We do live on a planet of “stuff” and force. Succumbing to the stress of it makes more stress. The way you deal with that is not to become those things yourself but simply you, quietly you, in present time. However, I’m not suggesting throwing everything out and live like Gandhi whose belongings, after he died, fit in a shoebox. Part of life is to have and enjoy things but never forget they are not you.

Okay, back to unpacking the next box. Maybe the salt and pepper will be in that one. Oh! Let me tell if you don’t already know – one box at a time.

Thank you; you can always contact me.

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TLB Note: Lucille is a longtime friend and contributor to TLB. She is also an author, writer, researcher, podcast show host, activist, and an exceptional artist to boot! To enjoy more of Lucille’s wisdom, research and presentation … CLICK HERE

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