Relocation

I have recently moved into a different house. It isn’t far from my old one, but it has still felt like a massive and consuming project. We complicated the transition by doing some renovation on the house that continued after we moved in, so my life has been overwhelmed with dust, decisions, and displacement.

Now that we are mostly finished, I feel like the real work of relocating can begin. Leaving my home and neighborhood of 13 years has been deeply rattling. I’ve been amazed by how many things feel different and uncomfortable. We used to be at the bottom of a hill and now we are at the top of one, so my whole perspective of the street in front of the house has shifted. Having a home with more space means the walls are further from me and that makes me feel smaller than before. Everyone is finding their favorite spots and so I don’t always know where everyone is. It is easy to feel a little lost. Never mind missing the comfort of my beloved neighbors close by!

I’ve moved across the country twice, not to mention relocating from Alabama to suburban DC when I was a teenager. This recent move was only a mile away but relocation has never felt stranger to me. I think it’s because I didn’t expect it to feel so viscerally unsettling. I had no idea how much I thought of myself as a duplex/row house person, and now I live in a detached house. This change to a bigger space actually shifts a part of my identity I only unconsciously held! I’m adjusting to the space between the walls and me, but I’m also adjusting to this small shift in my idea of myself.

Relocation can mean finding yourself in a new place AND in a new idea of who you are. This process of finding yourself anew can be precipitated by a move, a break up, a job change, health crisis, or becoming a parent. Sometimes we have to get messy in grappling with parts of our identity that we had no idea gave us pride or security.

As I find myself in the process of relocating here, I need to find the rhythms, both old and new, that help me find the deeper places of security and home. So far, I’ve taken some wonderful walks, hosted some good friends for meals, played board games with the kids, gotten my morning routine sufficiently tweaked, and found my spot to pray. I’m getting there.

Are you facing some kind of relocation in your life? Either literal or metaphorical? What new patterns do you need for the shifts in your life right now?

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