How Moving and Breaking Up are Similar

It's not until you're in the middle of a major change that you realize how your mind processes events. As I packed up and looked around my old apartment, memories came flooding in. Things I hadn't even thought of in over three years. That's how long I've been living at 1806. It's been a magical apartment; a safe haven for me and for countless others. I can't help it, I got attached to my old apartment and fell in love. And that's when it hit me, moving is like breaking up.

1. You'll miss the old place/boyfriend: As you pack your belongings and march out the door and take one last look back--you understand that you'll miss the old place but you have to move forward. Life doesn't stop, I learned this from listening and crying to  a lot of Reba McEntire songs. And the same goes for the boyfriend, no matter how bad the fights got or how misunderstood you felt--you're gonna miss him--trust me.

2. You want whoever takes over to be nice to the place/ex: This will be controversial because so many of us have learned that once you break up--the only thing between you and the ex should be hate, venom, and voodoo dolls, but that's never been the case with me and the old boyfriends...and now with 1806. I want the new tenants to relish living there and enjoy the beauty of the hardwood floors, the high ceilings and Mrs. Pinkus, the 85 year-old Russian lady who loves Madonna. And as for who ever ends up with the ex, he' a great guy--I hope they can appreciate him for him, but we both needed to move forward.

3. You don't know what's up ahead: In the old place, you knew the fridge made a loud noise so you unplugged it when shooting videos, the bathroom door never really shut properly, so you jammed an old sock in it to keep it closed. In the new place--you don't know how things will work--this is life, so there's always something that doesn't go as planned, but you make it work. Same as in being single. How does it work, again? Will I ever rest knowing that I'll be sleeping with a broken heart? Will I ever want to trust another person? We can focus on being fearful of the unknown, or dive into the amazing feeling of empowerment learning new ways to handle things and just taking it one step at a time. It all works out in the end--give it time.

4. Realizing you can never go back: Life's journey take us through trips on tunnels labeled happiness, confusion and misery. But each trip gets us closer to where we want to be. yes, you can never go back, but that's a good thing because that means you're not moving forward. Take your boxes of love and place them inside the new place/boyfriend for safekeeping--who knew U-Haul cold be so romantic?
So as we grow up and move on, I can't help but wonder, "How many moves does it take to finally feel at home? Both literally and figuratively?"