I just want to say thank you, so many of your posts have hit at the right time but this one...just what I needed to hear today as I'm contemplating some big changes.
Ahhh, what an amazing Keanu quote. That man has had an horrific amount of loss in his life. Does he know what happens after death? Not on any more of a speculative level than any one else does.
But this answer, this is something Keanu does know. I love Stephen Colbert's response as well. Just a handshake and acknowledgement of a well-said reply.
That quote struck me deeply too! Such a wise response. I had a friend pass away recently (and I miss him!) but I also got excited: he potentially knows secrets about the universe that I don't know yet. There's sometimes beauty in not knowing what the next phase, space, change will bring.
Well ditto to what Kate McGinnis just said - I am doing the exact thing - purging and cleaning up for a potential big change in my life after coming out of the deep grief of losing my husband. This post is so true to my moment in time now. Thank you Chris for putting it into words.
I just listed my house which got an offer in 1 day when the average is 90! I thought I had time! Time to go through the art boxes that I moved into the house 10 years ago because I didn’t have time to go through them before the move here. But this time, I realized that a home is made up of all the sentimental stuff - the pictures and art and trinkets my now young adult children brought me on their walks home from the bus. And the art boxes too, full of their scribbles and poems and books that we made when they were too little to write (they would dictate them to me). I decided the much touted minimalism that I have strived for, thinking how free I would feel if I could get rid of “all this stuff” is not for me. My house feels empty and sterile without the little bobs and bits of memories around.
Thanks, Chris. Love this one. And, I think back to one of my favorite moves. My partner and I arranged for 8-10 people to move us from point A to B in Portland, Oregon. It took about 10 minutes to move about everything into cars/vans and then unloading took another 10 minutes on the other end. Taught me to bring in lots of people when you do hard things like that. I have some fun pictures.
Moving between spaces and places… well said - thank you! I’m going through changes in my professional world - changing direction, moving away from one environment to another one, from one mental state to another one. And all the questions and feeling you described come up. Very grateful for that chance in life.
As someone who recently moved (and who lives a semi-nomadic lifestyle), this resonates as the messy in-between. And the fact that it's hard and doesn't get easier. But for me, it's how I remember, how I mark the time...Thanks, Chris.
Thanks Chris! You said it well. We move earlier this year (downsized) from a house we lived in for 25 years. In this amount of time we collected so much stuff. We gave away so much and yet I don't miss any of it. We still moved a lot but slowly began to give more and more away... We still have a ton of stuff but hopefully we will continue our process of reviewing what we have. You are so right about the amount of time it takes to pack it all up and unpack it at the new place. it took 4 times as long as we expected and we had great help. It didn't help that both my husband and I ended up in the hospital at the same time, he with a broken arm and me with gallbladder that need help. Thank goodness for my husband's wonderful family. We could not have done it without them.
Chris! I read this post and thought, "how does he know?" I decided that in January of 2025, I will start packing up the apartment I've lived in since February 2013. I've outgrown it and I'm cramped in so many ways. I have a whole three months to review this change, but also, I have a little less than nine months until I have to be out of the space. My lease sends on June 30th. I gave myself another year, and that one more year has lead me to here, knowing the time to go is approaching and giving myself the space and grace to sort through it all. I am excited and sad. I've realized that so much of what I hoped would come to fruition did not, but what brought me here, the idea of resilience was real. I am resilient and I am grateful for this time.
I love this Chris. I like the idea of comparing who you were then when you moved in to who you are now and all you’ve learned. It really helps with letting go, something I’ve often struggled with. 🙏🏻✨
Comes at a time when am moving office from standing all day all my life ( except briefly when I was in PR) to having a place to call my own, a chair and a company computer GO FIGURE. I want to do the office up ‘hallmark Christmas’ way. That will definitely be a new me. AND I want to dress up, in white, on a Wednesday 😁
This was exactly why I have always loved New Year's the most of any holiday, and why I got excited by new school years (even as a grad student, when they sort of all blended together). It's that fresh-start concept. "Who will I be in this new space?" really resonates with me as a lovely opportunity that we can, I don't know, find ways to trick our brain into feeling a lot more often than just moving houses or changing jobs.
I am anxiously scatterbrained. Which is to say, anxiety is my nemesis. But I’m doing the work. And, for me, that’s not only Meditation and Yoga but, in a holistic sense, being intentionally attentive. And that includes how I go about my work as well as the people I surround myself with.
I just want to say thank you, so many of your posts have hit at the right time but this one...just what I needed to hear today as I'm contemplating some big changes.
Ahhh, what an amazing Keanu quote. That man has had an horrific amount of loss in his life. Does he know what happens after death? Not on any more of a speculative level than any one else does.
But this answer, this is something Keanu does know. I love Stephen Colbert's response as well. Just a handshake and acknowledgement of a well-said reply.
That quote struck me deeply too! Such a wise response. I had a friend pass away recently (and I miss him!) but I also got excited: he potentially knows secrets about the universe that I don't know yet. There's sometimes beauty in not knowing what the next phase, space, change will bring.
Well ditto to what Kate McGinnis just said - I am doing the exact thing - purging and cleaning up for a potential big change in my life after coming out of the deep grief of losing my husband. This post is so true to my moment in time now. Thank you Chris for putting it into words.
I just listed my house which got an offer in 1 day when the average is 90! I thought I had time! Time to go through the art boxes that I moved into the house 10 years ago because I didn’t have time to go through them before the move here. But this time, I realized that a home is made up of all the sentimental stuff - the pictures and art and trinkets my now young adult children brought me on their walks home from the bus. And the art boxes too, full of their scribbles and poems and books that we made when they were too little to write (they would dictate them to me). I decided the much touted minimalism that I have strived for, thinking how free I would feel if I could get rid of “all this stuff” is not for me. My house feels empty and sterile without the little bobs and bits of memories around.
Thanks, Chris. Love this one. And, I think back to one of my favorite moves. My partner and I arranged for 8-10 people to move us from point A to B in Portland, Oregon. It took about 10 minutes to move about everything into cars/vans and then unloading took another 10 minutes on the other end. Taught me to bring in lots of people when you do hard things like that. I have some fun pictures.
We spent most of the time eating pizza.
Moving between spaces and places… well said - thank you! I’m going through changes in my professional world - changing direction, moving away from one environment to another one, from one mental state to another one. And all the questions and feeling you described come up. Very grateful for that chance in life.
As someone who recently moved (and who lives a semi-nomadic lifestyle), this resonates as the messy in-between. And the fact that it's hard and doesn't get easier. But for me, it's how I remember, how I mark the time...Thanks, Chris.
Thanks Chris! You said it well. We move earlier this year (downsized) from a house we lived in for 25 years. In this amount of time we collected so much stuff. We gave away so much and yet I don't miss any of it. We still moved a lot but slowly began to give more and more away... We still have a ton of stuff but hopefully we will continue our process of reviewing what we have. You are so right about the amount of time it takes to pack it all up and unpack it at the new place. it took 4 times as long as we expected and we had great help. It didn't help that both my husband and I ended up in the hospital at the same time, he with a broken arm and me with gallbladder that need help. Thank goodness for my husband's wonderful family. We could not have done it without them.
Chris! I read this post and thought, "how does he know?" I decided that in January of 2025, I will start packing up the apartment I've lived in since February 2013. I've outgrown it and I'm cramped in so many ways. I have a whole three months to review this change, but also, I have a little less than nine months until I have to be out of the space. My lease sends on June 30th. I gave myself another year, and that one more year has lead me to here, knowing the time to go is approaching and giving myself the space and grace to sort through it all. I am excited and sad. I've realized that so much of what I hoped would come to fruition did not, but what brought me here, the idea of resilience was real. I am resilient and I am grateful for this time.
I love this Chris. I like the idea of comparing who you were then when you moved in to who you are now and all you’ve learned. It really helps with letting go, something I’ve often struggled with. 🙏🏻✨
Comes at a time when am moving office from standing all day all my life ( except briefly when I was in PR) to having a place to call my own, a chair and a company computer GO FIGURE. I want to do the office up ‘hallmark Christmas’ way. That will definitely be a new me. AND I want to dress up, in white, on a Wednesday 😁
This was exactly why I have always loved New Year's the most of any holiday, and why I got excited by new school years (even as a grad student, when they sort of all blended together). It's that fresh-start concept. "Who will I be in this new space?" really resonates with me as a lovely opportunity that we can, I don't know, find ways to trick our brain into feeling a lot more often than just moving houses or changing jobs.
So many loves here. I move a LOT and have developed a deep affection for boxes. And hoarding. And purging.
Sun Tzu martialing dorm move out day. Delicious.
Keanu Reeves and Colbert having a moment.
I am anxiously scatterbrained. Which is to say, anxiety is my nemesis. But I’m doing the work. And, for me, that’s not only Meditation and Yoga but, in a holistic sense, being intentionally attentive. And that includes how I go about my work as well as the people I surround myself with.
I’m in the middle of a transition in my personal life and this was comforting to read.