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Moving didn’t kill me but it gave me lots of bruises.

Completing a cross-country move is exhausting. I won’t sugarcoat it. During all the cleaning, packing, more cleaning and unpacking, I sweated more than doing hot yoga. When moving boxes, furniture and anything else that needed hoisting, I bruised more than if I had participated in the Tough Mudder. And when all the little things that pop up and become really big annoying things, I probably swore enough to make a hardcore trucker blush.

But moving was also cathartic. Maybe I can say that now because my new household is unpacked and organized. I no longer have to relax on an air mattress on the floor.

A while back, I posted a blog about having too much stuff (http://wp.me/p28T80-bg). I had noticed many people in my subdivision could not park in their garages because their homes were filled to the eaves with stuff in the basement, attic and parking areas. Well, moving to a location where basements are virtually non-existent provides an even more disciplined approach to downsizing. As a friend who lives nearby told me, “If we don’t use it, we get rid of it. We can’t afford to keep extra stuff.”

Even the smaller boxes didn't make the mover happy about all the books!

Even the smaller boxes didn’t make the mover happy about all the books!

It was a tough exercise to weed out what really wasn’t necessary to make my life worth living, especially in a new geographic area where I’m not really sure what to expect. I won’t lie and say I’ve tossed out everything I should, but I made a good dent. Of course, some things I simply won’t part with, like photo albums. And as one of the movers lugged box after box of books up to my office, he was overheard muttering exasperatingly, “I hate readers.” I felt bad for him, but only for a little while. When I look at the books on my shelves now, it’s as if friends and familiar faces surround me.

Ultimately, the most important part of this move is the intangibles. One is my family who has already come to visit and help me feel a little less homesick for the town and state I have lived in all my life. The other is the reason I moved here in the first place and, while I felt like throttling him a few times during the move, thankfully I didn’t follow through and we’re happily exploring the new area. (By the way, I am absolutely certain he felt the same way as well.) I’m an outgoing person, and the good news is I’m always connected to my friends, no matter where I’m geographically located. Just like when conducting business with clients in Europe or associates in China, telecommunications links us together.

I’m looking forward to discovering this part of the country and expanding my network with new friends and associates. All it took was a cross-country move to make this happen.