The Pleasures of Packing

The calendar turns and the countdown begins...

Two weeks from today I will be driving to the Crescent City to begin the next adventure in my life. I awoke this morning realizing that I must begin sorting, purging and packing in earnest this week to prevent a last minute frenzy of stress and hyperactivity.

As I considered many pleasures to write about today, I realized that today should be a discussion of the pleasures of packing. Many folks view the task of moving as an arduous chore, but I've done it so many times that it's become old hat. As mentioned in a previous post, I've lived several different places and have endured two cross country moves, as well as journeys up and down the Eastern seaboard. Several times in my younger days I simply boxed everything that had to come with me and shipped my entire life by UPS; I've also rented vans and trucks for long hauls and enlisted the help of friends to help me load and unload all the trappings that I'd managed to accrue in my last destination.

This move will be very different, as I'm paring down to the barest of necessities; the plan is to take my kitchen stuff, computer equipment, clothes, music, treasured tchotchkes and a few books that hold special meaning and nothing more. Easier for me than for many as I underwent a fairly massive purge of stuff last year when I put everything into storage for a life on the road, but looking around I still see that I have ample opportunity to clean out more junk and let it go.

And the letting go is the pleasure of packing. Whether it's a factor of age, experience or sheer laziness, I have realized in the past few moves that I have lots of things that I don't need to carry with me as I move. This is quite a step for someone who was brought up in a family of packrats (and I'm not exaggerating--my father's parents had three two-story barns filled to the brim with stuff--not sure if it stemmed from enduring hard times in the Great Depression or simply being unable to let go). In the past when I moved I would carry around 5 or 6 big boxes of books, clothes that would never fit on my frame again, everything that was ever given to me as a gift; I even had a bag that contained every card and letter I received from the time I left my mother's house at 18. When packing up all this stuff I'd think why am I still holding onto this? but continue to wrap, pack and label.

Time and space constraints forced me to begin paring down about three moves ago, and after the first purge I actually found the process quite liberating. Things that I had been holding on to use as some trigger for a memory were discarded when I realized that I didn't require the talisman for the remembrance. As I began to "get lean" in packing and moving, I also discovered that it's much better to get the unused stuff out of your life and into the hands of someone who has a use for it.

So the next few days will consist of me ruthlessly going through everything I have (including several boxes that I never opened after moving in) and figuring out what really needs to come with me, what can go on craigslist or to the thrift store, and what simply needs to be pitched. It's an activity that has evolved from drudgery to pleasure for me, and I can't wait to see what I discover.