Some thoughts on Moving
As we prepare for a possible move (staying in the same area) I've been thinking about a lot of my previous moves and my take on moving in general. I moved a lot as a kid... a lot. Herndon VA was the 11th city I had lived in and at that time I was a sophomore in high school. My parents still live there, and I still live in the same general area (only about 30 mins away). It's crazy for me to think that I've lived in this area for nearly 14 years, and that Matt and I have been in the same house for over 7 years.
There have been pluses and minuses to moving so much. I definitely think it had a big impact on the person I am today, for better and worse. But now that I've finally been in one area long enough I've finally experienced how a stationary place changes over time.
For instance:
• Radio stations change their programming. I didnt know this happened. Actually I didnt really ever think about it enough to guess that this ever happened. I still remember getting in my car one day several years ago and tuning the radio to 99.1, at the time an alternative station, and hearing Spanish music. For a while I thought it was a joke, they I found out that someone had bought that station and changed it's programming. I still miss the old 99.1, though I hardly ever listen to the radio anymore.
• You loose friends even when you or they don't move away. People drift apart, or head in different directions and eventually you lose touch. It happens, sometimes even when I don't want it to. I always thought that the only reason I wasn't still friends with the people I knew in kindergarten was because we moved away from Texas. But who knows what would have happened with us if I'd stayed in Texas my whole life (ooh, there's a scary thought). I tried really hard to stay in touch with people when we moved away, but eventually the letters stopped being mailed, or someone moved enough that I couldn't keep up with new addresses and we'd lose contact. It was hard to let go of people, and it still is. But now I know that it's a fairly normal thing and it doesn't detract from the value of the friendship at that time. I also know that maintaining friendships take a lot of work, especially as they become less convenient, but hopefully the good ones last because both sides are willing to make the extra effort.
• Possessions build up quick when you aren't forced to go through them (due to packing and moving) nearly every year. I think my main reason for being such a purger has to do with packing and moving. Though I've heard people say the exact opposite, that since they moved so much they held on to all their stuff so they could keep the things around them permanent. Not quite sure why I went to the opposite extreme, but I did. Yet it didn't take long to fill our townhouse with stuff. Thankfully I went through a bunch of it last year and forced myself to get rid of a bunch of stuff that was just sitting here taking up space.
And anyone who has spent any amount of time in Northern Virginia knows how much this area has changed, new shopping centers, schools, bigger roads, overpasses so you can drive on the bigger roads with fewer interruptions, new housing developments... My surroundings are constantly changing. It was easy for me to assume that once I stopped moving, things would stop changing. But of course changes don't only occur when you are transplanted; everything changes, things move on, things fall apart, people change, they change their minds, move on to something better, move on to something not so better. It still happens, but for some reason, I just didn't expect it to happen here so much, not when I've lived in the same house for over 7 years (a lot longer than anywhere else).
But I will say this, even with the realization that a permanent-fixed-unmoving-unchanging environment doesn't exist (not that I want it to really), I much prefer my fairly stationary lifestyle. I like that I know the area and people in the area well. It's nice to have some roots, and finally a hometown.
There have been pluses and minuses to moving so much. I definitely think it had a big impact on the person I am today, for better and worse. But now that I've finally been in one area long enough I've finally experienced how a stationary place changes over time.
For instance:
• Radio stations change their programming. I didnt know this happened. Actually I didnt really ever think about it enough to guess that this ever happened. I still remember getting in my car one day several years ago and tuning the radio to 99.1, at the time an alternative station, and hearing Spanish music. For a while I thought it was a joke, they I found out that someone had bought that station and changed it's programming. I still miss the old 99.1, though I hardly ever listen to the radio anymore.
• You loose friends even when you or they don't move away. People drift apart, or head in different directions and eventually you lose touch. It happens, sometimes even when I don't want it to. I always thought that the only reason I wasn't still friends with the people I knew in kindergarten was because we moved away from Texas. But who knows what would have happened with us if I'd stayed in Texas my whole life (ooh, there's a scary thought). I tried really hard to stay in touch with people when we moved away, but eventually the letters stopped being mailed, or someone moved enough that I couldn't keep up with new addresses and we'd lose contact. It was hard to let go of people, and it still is. But now I know that it's a fairly normal thing and it doesn't detract from the value of the friendship at that time. I also know that maintaining friendships take a lot of work, especially as they become less convenient, but hopefully the good ones last because both sides are willing to make the extra effort.
• Possessions build up quick when you aren't forced to go through them (due to packing and moving) nearly every year. I think my main reason for being such a purger has to do with packing and moving. Though I've heard people say the exact opposite, that since they moved so much they held on to all their stuff so they could keep the things around them permanent. Not quite sure why I went to the opposite extreme, but I did. Yet it didn't take long to fill our townhouse with stuff. Thankfully I went through a bunch of it last year and forced myself to get rid of a bunch of stuff that was just sitting here taking up space.
And anyone who has spent any amount of time in Northern Virginia knows how much this area has changed, new shopping centers, schools, bigger roads, overpasses so you can drive on the bigger roads with fewer interruptions, new housing developments... My surroundings are constantly changing. It was easy for me to assume that once I stopped moving, things would stop changing. But of course changes don't only occur when you are transplanted; everything changes, things move on, things fall apart, people change, they change their minds, move on to something better, move on to something not so better. It still happens, but for some reason, I just didn't expect it to happen here so much, not when I've lived in the same house for over 7 years (a lot longer than anywhere else).
But I will say this, even with the realization that a permanent-fixed-unmoving-unchanging environment doesn't exist (not that I want it to really), I much prefer my fairly stationary lifestyle. I like that I know the area and people in the area well. It's nice to have some roots, and finally a hometown.
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