March 20, 2007

The boxes! The boxes!

I've moved five times in the past three years. But piles of half-packed boxes, surrounded by stacks of documents and trash bags full of old newspapers, still frighten me.

There's something quite a bit unsettling about seeing your belongings -- beloved books, favorite jackets and cherished photographs -- scattered about, in various states of disarray, instead of reclining on shelves, hanging on hangers and looking down from display cases.

I have come, however, to realize that this is only a temporary setting, for I've identified the Stages of Packing.

-- Confident Assessment. I look around my home with an eye for what will fit in which box, what items I can give to charity or friends and what items are fit for disposal. This stage brings a sort of calm to my nerves: I know what I'm doing. I can do this.

-- Denial. Here, I have thoughts such as, "this will be easy, " "I've done this before" and "I have tons of time." At some point, Denial wears thin. With an eye to the calendar, I reluctantly dig an empty box from the closet and approach my bookshelf, the beginning steps of a new stage.

-- Panic. Only at this point do I remember that books need to be dusted before packing; that it's difficult to arrange books of many sizes inside a confined space; and that prized, signed books should be put in a water-proof container. How on earth will I get this done? Where is the best place to begin?

-- Packing. It's where I am now, with panic not far behind. I'm just putting items in boxes, with as little thought or trepidation as I can manage.

Thus begins a day filled with packing, sending out my resume and, if I'm lucky, a bike ride.

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