I've come to realize that there are many stages to moving. Here they are in somewhat chronological order. (BEWARE: If mixed up, it may lead to the creation of a black hole in your residence, which can really hamper the efficiency rating of your move)
1. Generalized organizing and clearing out of unused items
This does not happen as early as it needs to because of the time-space conundrum; the move always seems further away than it really is. This is the beauty of this particular life-hazard, it has the innate ability to sneak up on you.
2. Beginning stages of packing of residence
This is typically slow going and can leave you stuck in the cycle of thought that starts with "well I'll still need to use that this week" and end with "since I can't pack that just yet, I'll come back to it later." This usually occurs in the bathroom, kitchen and bedroom/closet areas, ones that, as we all know, are, of course, the easiest and fastest places to pack up, right?
3. Panicked realization that the moving truck will be arriving in two days
Your apartment looks the same as it did a week ago, except you now have stacks of boxes, tape and packing paper crowding up the place. This causes you to go into,"alright, down to business, start packing like a madwoman, forget creature comforts, I will eat on plastic plates and sleep on an air mattress if I have to" mode.
4. You hit the closet and realize that you need to get rid of a fair amount of clothing that you haven't worn in three years.
An inevitable trap that causes packing/moving to grind to a halt. You are faced with the decision of trying on your outdated clothing to see if it is worth sitting in your closet unworn for another 2 years, OR, keep your rhythm going, packing it all and suffering the consequences of heavier/more boxes and having to deal with them on the other end. Time usually wins out, that's why I have clothes in my closet that date back to high school.
5. You pack up the majority of your belongings and your residence starts feeling eerily empty while still being full and definitely needing a good cleaning.
Funny how I never noticed how dirty the baseboards were until I would no longer have to live among them.
6. You start noticing little items that need to be dealt with and didn't make it into a box.
This is where the fun truly begins and you start loading your orphaned things into any receptacle that will hold them. The truck of your car is where most of this lands, and, if you are a girl, your purse is also prime real estate.
7. Finally, M day is here, and it all gets crammed into a moving truck and sent off to your new home.
This arrives at the end of 48 hours where you've stayed up to 3am the past couple nights, have started packing your dry pantry goods with your electronics just to get them in your last remaining empty box, and are likely to have developed something close to situation-induced paranoid schizophrenia that makes your friends/family oh-so-happy that they are helping you.
8. Stage 6 can be, and often is, repeated at this point.
This is why I've learned to keep a couple empty trash bags around just in case. And "case" usually happens.
Though I am not moving, I am helping an s.o. move, so I experience some, but definitely not all, of these stages. That is what lead me to realize that we are currently at stage 6. Why? Because ladies and gentlemen, this is what my purse looks like this morning. It has two new occupants. One pair of excellent brand-spanking new noise canceling headphones and a nifty model of what advancing plaque buildup looks like in your arteries. Though it is not me that is moving, my purse has officially been put into service.----------------
Listening to: Five Times August - Save It For Later
via FoxyTunes
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