Clew’s Silvia has moved from Luxembourg to Sweden:
Moving could represent a need, a choice, a great and exciting idea, fresh air in your life – but it could also reveal an unexpected side and a real training for your body and mind. Here’s my personal – and a bit crazy- experience.
It is never too early to start preparing your baggage and boxes, because the last days before moving will blow away faster than the summer days of your childhood. You will have the perception of living in a strange time dimension: No matter if it seems so far away that you even forget about it, suddenly the “X moment”, the moment of relocation, is there, it will come striding.
And from that very moment on, with the Fast Forward button constantly pushed, you will try to face every kind of situation, even the most surreal. You will be fine and proud until the FF button will produce its effects, one of them being the feeling that your days are incredibly short for all you were planning to accomplish. And pay attention: The unexpected is always around the corner… it seems to enjoy surprising busy people, so try not to stumble. And do not shake your broom as a magic wand, it will not work.Probably, if there’s a word invested with some magical power that word is “to plan”. All you need is to have a plan, always! Plan everything you can, since this will be of a great help both for an organizational purpose and for an interior wellness (let’s put it in this way!)
© Mrchan | Dreamstime.com
And at leaving day -2, I can assure you that the famous FF button will have used up its effect – we will be so busy and so fully committed that nothing and noone seem to be able to follow our steps, even our shadow!
There is something crazy about moving. The quantity of objects accumulated on your shelves, day by day, laying passive here and there in your house… No matter if you live in a palace or in a studio – there will always be many more things than we really use or need. Obviously, this is a reality we clearly discover when we move, and we start to ask ourselves: “Why did I buy it? Or worse: “Why did I never use it?”. And, you don’t know yet but, the juicer still in its packaging only represents the beginning of a long list of questions and considerations about what we can bring with us to our new destination.
In my opinion, a useful practice when relocating is creating a list with every object on our shelves, to be able to consider what we actually have, because, as crazy as it may be, sometimes we forget. Then… the nominations! Yes, the list is just the first step to realise you will not leave on a cargo plane, nor will you be able to convince the flight company to reconsider their weight limits. Then, once you’ve identified all the objects that won’t be coming with you, free yourself of them!
In the Internet era, it is much easier to find groups where you can post the stuff you want to sell, give away or even exchange; the choices are numerous and personal.
Despite the fact that some buyers stood me up – and this is really hard to predict – my personal experience was positive, there were even some pleasant talks between buyer and seller. I found myself talking about Japan with a native Japanese woman who had just moved from Sweden (what a small world!), and her delicacy brought me back to my journey to those places and made me dream about others.Then I arrived in Thailand through the tales of another girl, talking about elephants, those who are blessed to live free as they should.
Another worthy idea is to donate all the stuff you don’t want to bring with you. They will go (hopefully) to those who will appreciate them a lot, so there is no other better choice. You just need to do some research on the web to find events or storage boxes already located near your place. As for the clothes and other textiles too worn to be donated, let’s recycle them! The principle is the same, just some research and it’s done. Your ecological/humanitarian soul will feel a great joy. Just a warning: Plan in advance! Everything needs time, even the smallest thing, so try to always have time on your side.
On leaving day -1, you feel like an acrobat on a very thin rope, among a thousand tasks, a thousand questions and a thousand different answers to the same questions depending on your mood.
© Tomassicak | Dreamstime.com
Finally it comes – the moment of veiled panic, the face-to-face with the baggage you have selected to bring with you to your new house. However, the passage from “veiled panic” to “huge panic” is short, and it’s proportional to the personal love for shopping. The more you love shopping, the less your luggage will seem suitable. When I realised just how unsuitable my bags and suitcases were, that’s when I passed from “veiled” to “huge” panic. Music on my headphones (rock for its mysterious power of relief) and chocolate to accompany the “Why do I have all these clothes?”, the “Why all these shoes?” and the “And what about all these pens?” Ok, I’m a compulsive buyer of pens, I have to stop. This sporadic monologue arrived just in a sporadic climax moment disappearing once I found myself smelling the ink of my notepad or the pages of a book, and then, my thoughts about my small-small suitcases stopped ardently.
Next step: To face your baggage. My very slim baggage and I exchanged a discouraging gaze next to a pile of clothes exhausted after my useless tactics of flattening and slimming them. I don’t know how, but suddenly I started to visualize Mary Poppins, then I started to think: “I want Mary Poppins’ bag. If she put everything inside her bag, I put everything inside mine”. And with a grotesque smile I found myself challenging Mary Poppins, Mrs I-bring-all-my-stuff-with-me.
But first, coffee, a lot of coffee, because coffee is always a good idea. Oops. Who sold the coffee maker?!
© goir | Dreamstime.com
By Silvia La Rosa, on the move, November 2015
CLEW 
The odds and bits of moving countries… I will not tell how many times I had done but leaving is not an easy task: for the places you learned to recognize, for companionship that will be afar, for the future you plan for… And for the things you decide will be changing hands. But it is amazing how those objects can chase us a glimpse or a thread of a relationship… A friend that could be or a soul that would sing with you in harmony… I cherish these moments, the people we meet and a small talk that can be surprisingly profound… It is time for my tee, wait, better celebrate with a cup of coffee! Salute!
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I’m really glad that you came here to read the article and thanks for your comment! I completely agree with you, all those moments are so precious, and “a small talk surprisingly profound” becomes a treasure! Enjoy your coffees and take one for me 😉
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