Now that I am finally cast-free, I have to begin the oh-so-fun work of packing and making arrangements with movers. I have a moving company lined up, although I am checking out one more company that I just recently had recommend to me. Sorting through all the different companies and trying to do an inventory of my stuff has been a challenge. Just how many bookshelves do I have? How many end tables? And I'm trying to be careful about reading all the fine print. What charges are going to show up on the day of the move that weren't included in my estimate? Do you all have any good/bad moving experiences to share?Packing is a different story. My parsonage is huge - both here, actually, and in Franklin Lakes, and I'm just one person. And one cat. Ok, and one brother. My actor brother Todd is moving with me to New Jersey - he's thrilled he'll be so close to NYC. But he's also technically lived with me here in Oneida. It's just hard to count him because he's on tour or working in another state so often that usually it is more accurate to say Todd stores his stuff with me than that Todd lives with me. I had to accumulate stuff when I moved here just to have something to put in this five bedroom parsonage. I moved here straight from seminary, where I basically had a dorm-room amount of possessions. But, I accumulated.
Like many people moving, I suspect, I'm trying to be careful in my packing to decide what I really want. Do I need all this stuff? This coming Sunday the lectionary is my favorite gospel lesson - the first text I ever preached on - the one where the man decides to build bigger barns to store all his grain (Luke 12:13-21) God says to the man, "These things you have - whose will they be?" How many knick-knacks do I need to be happy with my home? How many DVDs that I never watch? How many place settings do I need for two people and a cat? How many pots and pans does someone who hates cooking really need?
Tell me about your moving/packing experiences, please. Any great pearls of wisdom?
5 comments:
I haven't moved for over 10 years and so have too much stuff. But in this time I've had to clean out my parents' house. Being an only child, it was my job when they died. So I think moving could be like that--give away what is not needed. I remember William Law wrote about the dresses in your closet unworn (and he's talking to me right now for all the ones that are too small!) could be worn by someone else, instead of rotting in the closet. Good luck with your move!
I met your current bishop -- she's sad that you are going.
Best wishes on the move. I'm working on reducing the load so that next year when I move, I'll be ready. But then again I probably have a LOT more junk than you do!
I remember moving way back and being very proud that everything I owned (except my mattress and a speaker for my bass amp) fit into my Ford Tempo. The last time I moved, it took two trips with a U-Haul.
Probably the worst move was when my old roommate Chris and I moved into an apartment in Rome. I had never paid for a moving van, and it really just didn't occur to us. I'd outgrown the Tempo and no one around had a pickup we could borrow, so Chris, who worked with a trash pickup company, borrowed one of the recycling trucks. We loaded up and moved everything in one shot. It took a long time, however, for the stink to come out of the furniture.
My advice is to get rid of almost everything. I'd kind of like to do that myself (except for a thousand or so cds... and the guitars... and all that good kitchen stuff... and...).
I ditto the sentiment of getting rid of as much as possible ... says the girl who still has boxes left packed up from 2 or 3 moves ago probably!
My advice is to cut back. If you haven't used it in the past year you are unlikely to use it in the next either so donate it to goodwill and enjoy the space.
Having a big house is not always a blessing -and you could keep one room in the new place empty other than a really comfortable chair /sofa as a room to spend time with God.
I'm working on that for myself but we keep adopting young Christian ladies to live with us for short periods (and its great) but they take over that space and that's the sad bit.
No idea where it is that you are moving too - just that it's near NYC -but hope it is a good move for you spiritually.
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