How Moving Enhanced My Life Unexpectedly

Thank you to Nadia L. King for her guest post this week. Nadia L. King is an Australian YA author and short story writer. Serenity Press is releasing a second edition of her book, Jenna’s Truth, in 2018.

We moved. Who would have thought? Not us. For two years we trawled real estate websites, drove by a huge number of houses, and went to numerous open houses. It all seemed like a pipe-dream. Or, so we thought . . . Little did I know how moving would change my perspective. Moving enhanced my life in ways I never imagined.

My husband and I live in Perth, Australia. As the capital of Western Australia, Perth is the second most isolated “capital city” on the planet, but it’s also the sunniest. It’s a relaxed and friendly place – maybe because we’re relatively sparsely populated. We can also claim bragging rights to the world’s friendliest and cutest marsupial, the quokka, which roams our little island of Rottnest. While we would never leave our paradise in Perth, we wouldn’t mind a change in house, but only if we could find the right place.

Look at this little guy – the quokka. We win for cutest marsupial on the planet.

Our dream became a reality when my husband found a house with EVERYTHING on our wish-list—a ton of living space, views, and only six kilometers from the house we had lived in for more than twelve years. Drastically changing locations wasn’t an option. We weren’t going to compromise on the short commute into the city or consider changing schools. So, yes, when we found our new home it did take us by surprise.

Drastically changing locations wasn’t an option.

Getting the house ready to sell wasn’t easy.

Finding the house was relatively easy compared to the chaos of packing up and moving. I’m not overly house-proud so getting the house ready to sell seemed like a daunting exercise.

I hired a commercial cleaner, window cleaner, painter, and an interior stylist. By the time they had finished, the house looked perfect.

But, it didn’t feel that way. We took to stiffly sitting on chairs, wary of leaving indentations on the artfully arranged cushions. Ninety percent of my books went into short-term shortage and I felt slightly limb-less (I am a writer and avid reader, after all). To rectify the situation I popped into an op-shop to buy a handful of books to tide me over. I came out with The Help on audio book for $5 and I was saved. I could now pack and read at the same time!

Now I could pack and READ at the same time. I was saved.

[Image provided by Nadia L. King]

After sourcing second-hand moving boxes and with The Help playing, I creatively packed. My creative packing meant I used laundry baskets as much as possible. I didn’t wrap fragile times in paper—I used tea-towels and bed linens. We wrapped our art collection in sheets and packed into larger boxes with cushions placed between them for protection. I packed kitchen items into shallow boxes to minimize the weight and keep my crockery safe.

Then came the sale of our existing house in a flat buyers’ market. We looked at data for the best-selling agents in our local area and chose the realtor based on that.  My  husband and I were open-minded about price and the phrase ‘motivated seller’ trundled through my brain on a never-ending loop. After several open houses, our home sold within several weeks. All of the home preparation had been worth it.

Moving enhanced my life in ways I never imagined.

It’s almost two months later and we settled into our new home quickly. We love it. We wake to a view of the river every morning and have stretched out luxuriously to fill the larger spaces of the new house.

The view from my new home. Heaven.

[Image provided by Nadia L. King]

But what has most taken me by surprise has been the opportunity for self-awareness. We’re exploring our space and ourselves. Asking ourselves questions about what we want:

• What remodelling will we be undertaking?
• How do we best make use of our spaces?
• What is it that we want from our home?
• What does our home say about the people that we are?

Such questions forced me into self-introspection. I can be strong-minded and particular. Therefore, I like my environment to be soothing and calm. I definitely have staunch views about the space I live in. I’m discovering things about myself that I probably should have admitted years ago. Who would have thought that moving house could be such a catalyst—such a force for taking stock of one’s life? Moving enhanced my life unexpectedly.

This quote by British designer, Kevin McCloud sums up my thoughts about the concept of home. Our new home enriches our everyday lives. Is there a better reason for moving other than to enhance the quality of our lives?