So I’m in the middle of a move.  And moving sucks.  Everybody knows this.  Nobody likes moving.  It’s universal, like waiting in line.  It’s a pox.  A plague.  An affliction.

And yet, I enjoy it.

You have to distinguish between Moving the Activity and Moving the Event.  Moving the Event is a nightmarish gauntlet of too many loose ends that cost too much money.  Nobody’s ever said ‘this move is going according to plan’ or ‘wow, I was perfectly able to afford everything in that move’.  Nobody’s said that.  Or if they have, they were promptly burned at the stake lest they have the chance to take on other forms.

The big thing for me with moving, is the packing.  I hate packing.  There are never enough boxes, and there’s always little stuff left over that you forgot, didn’t notice, or couldn’t otherwise pack up.  That’s what sucks.

But the actual move itself, the actual loading the truck and taking stuff from Point A to Point B?  I actually like that.  It’s fun.  It’s like a sporting event.  Three, four hours of lifting semi-heavy stuff and carrying fifty yards?  That’s not a chore; that’s a strong-man competition!  Hell, if you think about it, all you have to do is put an ad in the local paper and give out a cheap statue and you could have a bunch of lugnuts from the local gym clambering to do it the fastest.

My athletic love of lifting heavy stuff aside, there’s something very cerebral about moving that I also love.  By moving into a new place, you have a fresh start that you can remake your life and your lifestyle.  Hate how your life revolves around the TV?  Put it in a corner, or in another room, or flatout don’t set it up at all.  Hate your wardrobe? As you unpack (or pack, if you have the forethought), weed through everything you don’t like.  There is a great purge and rebirth that goes on in a move that is wonderful.

And during the move, in the interim, you’re able to streamline your life.  You’re able to discover just how little do you need to get by.  And then you look at those boxes of all that stuff and you realize how much, or how little, it really means to you.

Look at moving as a chance to recreate yourself, not from outside in but from the inside.  A move is a wonderful thing; not a curse to be dreaded but an opportunity of rare proportions.