On the move...

There's a solid possibility of me moving in the near future. Not just moving within this area, but moving to another locale, beginning a new chapter. I'm hesitant to share details until it's a definite. The people who need to know know it's a possibility, and that's all that really matters for now.

But it's got me thinking. Thinking about just how much moving I've done since college. Sure, there's the standard move-in/move-out of the dorm room or apartment that the beginning and end of each academic year brought. But then there was life after that.

My first job out of college was on Capitol Hill. I was in that job for just over a year before moving to Boston. In that year, however, I moved three times. My first month in DC I lived rent free with some friends of my mother's who owned a beautiful home in a rather scary part of town. That was enough to inspire me to find a summer sublet in Cleveland Park, probably still one of my favorite parts of the area. Once my sublet was up, I moved to Bethesda, MD, by far the best living experience in terms of location and general apartment fabulousness I've ever had here. I had an amazing studio apartment that doubled in price in my 4 year DC area absence. Guess I'm not the only one who thought that place was pretty swell.

I then moved to Boston. I lived near downtown on Commonwealth Avenue in a tiny one bedroom for just under a year when I then moved to an amazingly cheaper and bigger two bedroom in the Coolidge Corner part of Brookline, about a mile and a half from the Comm Ave digs. I moved out of that place, we'll call it "roommate issues", to live with other friends for a year in another part of Coolidge Corner, only to return to that first CC locale later on.

When I moved back to the DC area, I found a studio in Crystal City. I lived there by myself for about 4 months before a friend of mine from high school moved to the area and we found a different apartment within the same building. Another move. Then, of course, my favorite move of all was this past summer to Alexandria.

So, am I the only one who is perversely impressed by this? Let me correct that, actually. I used to be impressed by it, but now I'm sort of disgusted. I am eager to just settle and be someplace for a long while, particularly since I really don't know what it's like to stay in a place beyond a year. Plus, moving has simply lost that luster of excitement it once held. Now it's just a pain in the ass. I'm just getting too old for it. My spirit of "Screw movers, let's do it ourselves!" is fading, fading, fading away. I'm ready to throw bags of money at people to simply get it done and spare me the sweat, muscle aches and heavy lifting up flights of too small staircases.

But I can't help but wonder about whether or not I have some inherent inability to sit still. All moves have come with some sort of logical context, but I'm left to question if there's something deeper going on. Am I constantly seeking out a clean slate? Am I hesitant to realize I really can't go home again?

Of course, the good thing about moving is realizing just how much crap you have. My last move was among my post painful in coming to that realization. So, if I pick up stakes again, it will be with a minimalist approach. If I haven't used a particular possession or worn a particular thing since the last move, it's going in the trash. Period.

There's another blog I'm working on in my head right now about my returns to this area. My move here in 05 was my third counting my internship in the summer before my senior year of college. It's odd. DC is never a place I've loved, in fact, it's one I've eagerly sped away from twice before. I may have even given it the finger during one departure. But with it's familiarity and ample job opportunity, it's been a place that's "safe" in my mind for adventure and new beginnings. Since the economy in my home state has never been one that allows for young people to return in a professional capacity, DC has been a place I seem to turn to for clarity and new opoprtunity. There's a lot there for me to tap, I think, in terms of my own mindset and why I keep coming back to a place that's never been a great fit. Please do stay tuned.. same bat time.. same bat channel.