Friday Five: Moving and Changing

Sally says: "The theme of change is dominating my thinking at the moment, this morning my husband Tim has headed off for an interview in Sheffield. The West Sheffield Methodist Circuit are looking for an Evangelism/ Mission Enabler, in may ways this would be Tim's ideal job, but we wait on God... ( if you can spare a prayer today we'd be grateful)...Sheffield is a commutable distance from my new post as Minister in Sherburn-in Elmet and some of the surrounding villages, before Tim gets home I will have left to join the Leadership team there for an away day on Saturday, I'll be staying the night with the current Minister in Sherburn to talk over some of the practicalities of the post.ALL IS CHANGE.... and although I am looking forward to it, it is not without a sense of trepidation, as change always brings challenges.Changing location also means packing, so next month will be a month of clearing and sorting, deciding what comes and what gets left behind...So with change in mind I offer you this Friday five; ( if you've never moved here's a chance to use your imagination)"

This comes at an interesting time. While there are no moves in the immediate future moving has been on my mind. Things have been moving out as XDO and I finally get the last of our things sorted. And this has triggered a cleaning and purging binge as I have this urge to see bare space everywhere. R will be moving in (though not for a year or so), but we are thinking ahead to space use. And in long-range planning, he and I are planning a Big Move to points South, so that, too, figures into the urge to purge.

1. A big move is looming, name one thing that you could not possibly part with, it must be packed ? I think this time I really do have to take the piano. It is piano number four. Every time I move I leave them behind because it "the practical thing to do" and "I really don't play all that much." But then I grieve and have to get another one. So I may as well move the durn thing!

2. Name one thing that you would gladly leave behind...Bad memories and the dirt I can't seem to get out of the corners in this old house.

3. How do you prepare for a move a. practically?b. spiritually/ emotionally? I learned a lot from the last move (which was my first "real" adult one from one geographical location to another) that will stand me in good stead for the next. Practically--the word is PURGE! And that has already begun even though R and I are not planning to go anywhere for at least five years or so. I am never again moving a bunch of crap I don't want or need. In fact I don't even want to live NOW with a bunch of that stuff. I think it has implications for b. as well. I feel possessed by my possessions when they begin to encroach. And it had reached that point. Before I moved from my house in the Big City, I spent more to get rid of the stuff I was not moving than I did to move the stuff I brought here. Between the dumpster and the appliance movers and the hazardous waste fees...argh! Never again! So it goes now and stays gone, and when it's time to move, I hope the the only things I have to pack will be the things that are important and useful.

4. What is the first thing you look for in a new place? Before I ever moved here I had "requirements." Must haves 1) Episcopal church, 2) yoga teacher or classes and, 3) at least some kind of lake or river within reasonable commute. The rest is negotiable. For our next place the list is pretty much the same only we have expanded the water to an ocean and added "no snow--ever again!

5. Do you settle in easily, or does it take time for you to find your feet in a new location? I am thinking back to when I arrived here in small town on the prairie, now coming up on seven years ago. It was the second big move in my life, the first undertaken when I was too young to understand the implications of such things. This one was done with consciousness and a desire to develop community, so I was very deliberate about my "settling" process, seeking out opportunities to meet people whom I thought might become friends. I joined the church (of course!), a book club, tried out for the community theatre, joined a women's chorus. Some of the activities worked out over time and some did not, but I gained some of my dearest and closest friends and did feel that this place became home for me as I "settled in" rather well.

The bonus for today; a new opportunity has come up for you to spend 5 years in a new area, where would you go and why? NOLA....no doubt. Ever since Katrina I have felt pulled there and an actual sort of sense of call to go there and try to be useful in some way. Unfortunately life just hasn't allowed for that up until this point. When we went on the BE and I had a day to wander, that sense of interest and desire intensified. Now as we are beginning to think about destinations for our honeymoon, it's definitely on the list, and maybe as a "relocation" possibility in the five year plan.