We've all had to move at one point, whether it be to a different room in your house, a different house all together, or from home to college. We've all experienced the struggle of trying to fix everything we own into a box, or deciding what is worth moving with us or not. It's about that time of year again where people are moving back to campus, and we're all about to go through the stages of moving.
Stage One: New Place Bliss
This is the excitement stage. You feel completely ready to see what this new place looks on the inside, get a feel for what it's going to be like. You might start envisioning how you want to decorate it. Pinterest boards will start filling up with all kinds of ideas. You imagine all the memories you're going to make, and you begin counting down the days until move in.
Stage Two: Packing
This stage has sub stages. Procrastination, dread, astonishment, and accomplishment. Unless you're an overachiever, packing usually starts later than is ideal. It's easy to think that you have all the time in the world to pack up your stuff. You might even fool yourself into thinking that you don't have a lot of stuff, or that packing it up will be done quickly. But you're wrong. Once you realize it's time to start packing, you begin to dread it. Dread usually last through a good portion of the actual packing. Once the dread leaves, you start to realize you had a lot more stuff than you thought. You question if it can all fit into your new place. The rose colored glasses you had about moving shatter at this point, but you keep on trucking. After the packing is finished, you feel a sense of productivity, but also a regret of starting to pack too late.
Stage Three: Transporting
You thought you got the hard part over, and for some of you, packing might've been the hard part. That is if you have a truck or van of some sort. Transporting things in a tiny car is super hard. This stage typically makes stage two look like unicorns and rainbows.
Stage Four: Unpacking
Seeing the boxes lining your floor, the sense of dread comes back. There's just so much for you to unpack. You question how possible it is to live out of boxes. Maybe just grab out the essentials, and leave the rest as is. Trust me, it's not worth it. It's definitely more work than unpacking. Besides, unpacking is your chance to put a personal twist on your new space. However, it's not easy. You question the purpose of everything you unpack. Is it really necessary to have that? Will I use it? Trust me, you packed it for a reason, and it's better to have it just in case than not have it when you need it.
Stage Five: New Home Sweet Home
Once everything's unpacked, the space looks more like home to you. The journey to this point might've sucked, but the outcome is pretty dandy.
We've all been through these stages at one point of another in our lives, and unfortunately, it's inevitable to experience it again. But know you're not alone. Everyone experiences these.
