Packing

Packing sucks for many reasons.  One of the biggest reasons is suddenly you realize you should dust more often.  So as you are trying to pack, you start trying to dust, and this ends in nothing but disaster (and a headache to boot).  I can feel the dust clinging to my hands and face, feel it burning in my nose.  Not to count I am sure most of the dust is landing right in the boxes of books I just cleaned to pack!



Another reason why packing sucks is because you start finding things you thought were a) lost forever or b) thrown out in the garbage months ago!  Now with all this extra crap you gotta tape up more boxes.  I am all for finding items that were lost and are still needed.  Don't get me wrong on that one; it's like Christmas morning as a kid sometimes.  But finding things I would've sworn some oath to that I had thrown out now sitting right in front of me is boggling to say the least.  On a rare occasion, c) finding something you thought you had already packed!  I now realize I have too many books.  It doesn't help that I am packing Pattie's books as well, but it's quite disorienting when it happens.

I am a sucker for trying to keep things organized, and when packing, it's no different.  I try to keep these books with those books, etc..  Especially if my books are going to my room and Pattie's books are going elsewhere.  Then it doesn't make sense trying to pack them all together.  (Yes, I do this if I bag my own groceries.)

I also hate packing because if you do find something, you can usually find a reason to keep it.  "I've been looking for this for months" is usually to excuse to keeping such items.  I am not saying throw out all your precious objects, just that sometimes it is better to let go of such items than to keep them.  If you were searching for it for months on end, then sure, keep it.  But if you lost it months ago, looked for it for about a week, then gave up, it obviously isn't all that important and safe to get rid of.

Packing also means putting precious items into a box, with or without paper, and taking it to your new destination.  I use red sharpies a lot when it comes to writing FRAGILE really big on the sides.  Most items are replaceable in some aspect.  Candle holders, glasses, mirrors, etc..  But the glass mug from when I graduated isn't something I can easily replace.  This makes me nervous to a whole new point.  I never thought of myself as materialistic until recently.  It not that the material matters so much to me, I just like the memories that come with them.

Change is also intertwined in this jumble.  I doubt I will have my room just as I have it now.  With that thought rolling around in my head, I think of if I will have enough room to have all my possessions out or if I will need to do what I do now, and only have a limited amount of items out.  Either way, this will take a good bit of getting used to.  And probably lots of rearranging.  I can never make up my mind when it comes to certain things like that. 

However, the best thing about packing is the knowledge that I am heading somewhere with my stuff.  The path is important, more important than some realize.  The destination is a reward to traveling that path.  This move opens up so many opportunities for me and mine.  So even though packing is such a pain, I have the highest hopes.

B.B.