IF THERE IS AN ART TO MOVING IT IS LINKED TO HAVING A SOFT SENSE OF ORGANIZATION

ON THE ART OF MOVING:  CONQUERING A NECESSARY EVIL

Is there really an art to moving? Can a man ever truly be prepared to uproot himself with the expectation he will effortlessly re-establish himself on alien soil?  Well, I imagine that the outcome of any move can only be evaluated against its purpose.  Moving to follow a dream can amount to a mixed-bag of satisfaction depending on close one actually settles to his dream.  A combination of possibilities balanced by the variable factor of preparedness, and the unpredictable variable of fate poses the immediate power to transform a  move.  No matter how prepared a gentleman thinks he is moving ultimately rears its hideous head as a necessary evil.

Being uprooted is by its nature unsettling and that is why nobody really wants to move.  The only exception is when a move represents a change to escape circumstances which have already caused considerable, unwanted unsettling.  But in this global culture even a major geographical displacement may not be enough to truly escape the circumstances of one’s life-footprint.  A life-footprint is a combination of economic, social and physical elements that have come to define a man’s existence.  It may include his occupation, income, associations, friendships and intimacies, degree of economic wealth and/or indebtedness and of course the physical boundaries such as his residence, neighborhood geographic and political jurisdiction.  Moving will always have the potential to redefine all of these variables in ways we can really never predict.

Moving to a place of our dreams is a blessing.  Being able to trade-out unwanted factors for more desirable ones refreshes out outlook on life it improves out life-footprint.  It is the unexpected variables in between the old and the refreshed that can steal away some of the brilliance of moving on a dream.  But we cannot let that discourage us, especially because the end is so much more desirable than the means.

Being forced to execute an undesired move due to negative factors out of our control frames the worst case scenario of moving.  Typically an undesired move is accompanied by untimely financial, physical and social circumstances that overburden our ability to adapt to inevitable change.  In such a move we may actually lose more than we ultimately gain by relocating and because this loss is precipitated by uncontrollable factors it only adds to the general sense of malaise. 

Even the best-planned move may ultimately become a nightmare… Likewise the most dreaded move may actually turn out to be a move into a more palatable life-footprint.  It really all depend on how you look at it!  So what can a man do in order to properly brace himself when entering the unknown realm of moving?  How can he fortify himself against the unexpected, the unwanted? What singular object can he hold on to in order to keep grounded during such a period of upheaval?  At the end of the day there is nothing more a gentleman can do outside of risk-managing a move right down to the last detail so that he has plans “A” through “G” fully outlined and ready for implementation.  One can romanticize that we might not ever have those dramatic moving stories that keep our friends at the edge of their seats each time we tell them were it not for the “Murphy’s Law” variable… we all have to admit that we love sharing how we overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles in our moving saga, it’s something that unites us to the common human experience.

So I no longer complain about a move whether it I desired or not.  I no longer obsess or melt-down during a move’s unexpected twists and turns.  I plan as best I can, accept the degree to which I have invested in preparation for a move and then coach it as it moves along so as to redirect it towards its desired outcome and of course the outcome is always just to get moved! To get it over with the least financial, emotional, physical and spiritual loss.  Moving is an art that perfectionists can least perfect!  Moving is and art that may never be understood by those who lack problem solving and negotiation skills.  The best movers may be those men who combine critical planning for key phases of a move with a healthy dose of flexibility to work around the unexpected elements that will inevitably challenge a move.  Moving may require a meditative state of mind as an overlay to the hectic, time-sensitive, physically and mentally fatigued realities that will always be present.  Yes, moving is almost always a necessary evil to get to where we want, need or have to be in our lives and if there is any real art to moving it is probably best exemplified through our ability to work-through the unexpected maintaining our cool and thereby modelling a general sense of calm and togetherness.  We have to be able to see through to the end of the move and effectively communicate that vision to all the players, the mover’s role is to make it seem easy, it is truly an act of faith…

FIN

BY BIGDADDY BLUES