Making a Home

I have mentioned before that I just adore Victoria Moran. The way she writes just gets me thinking. Well, tonight I was reading her book "Shelter for the Spirit" and she was talking about how people tend to live in their spaces... it is either temporary or permanent. She said that people who are in temporary housing (and view it as temporary) will pack up the good things for the permanent house or the next place or their home instead of the rental. I have found, that I move about every three years. That is such an improvement from the "moving every year" phase that I had going for awhile there, but even at three years, I do find myself waiting to unpack things. It can take me months and months to unpack boxes that are in the guest room or the office. If I have a garage, they are stored in there when I am tired of looking at them in my living space.

The question being...if I move every three years, when will I ever be settled??

I recently read a story (or a blog) about a military family that unpacks everything the first & second day that they move into the house & take the boxes to the curb. Since they move so frequently, they need to be immediately settled and make it their home. What a fabulous thing to do. They are literally claiming their space as soon as they arrive. BRAVO!

I find that if I take a vacation for a week and stay in the hotel, I immediately claim that space as my own. I unpack my suitcase, hang up my clothes, put all my toiletries in the bathroom and viola I've got a home. The less stuff that I have to unpack, the quicker it becomes my home. LOL

Since about the day we moved into this condo my husband has wanted to move. He hates it here. Sometimes he says he doesn't really hate it, but he says it enough times that I do believe he has come to hate it. On the other hand, I really like it here! I can tell that I like it here because this has been the cleanest house I've ever had. I dust more often, vacuum a lot, put out those hot spot fires and of course keep the kitchen clean and tidy. I don't feel overwhelmed with clutter and piles, even though my office isn't neat by any means.

One of the best things I have done is to unpack the things that I like. I haven't stashed anything away for later. I either love it and use it or I have given it away. I still have garage units that are full of stuff but I don't want most of that stuff. I could give it all away and I wouldn't miss any of it. My husband isn't of that mindset - hence the reason why we have two garage units that are stuffed to the gills.


Oprah had a rerun on this week about hoarders. This specific topic was on a family that had so much stuff in their house that they had little mazes to get from one part to another. The stuff was piled so high that you literally couldn't see over it. The problem with that family was the sheer volume of stuff being purchased on a daily basis and brought into the house. I seem to get overrun with paper. I don't buy it, I print it or it comes in the mail, it comes as catalogs, as free newspapers and flyers.

A few years ago I was overwhelmed with furniture and now it's paper. Maybe I have improved LOL

I think that this residence - my home - has really become my home more than any other. I think I have been learning the tricks to make it mine. Victoria's book is just confirming that fact. Now if I could just release the last remnants of the clutter... ahhhh I still have a ways to go. :)

Have a great day!
Kristin