Cohousing, 2.0

Today we moved house, for the 5th time in 2 years.  It is 2 years to the day that I received the phone call that began a series of moves and changes, that culminated to our family moving from Vermont to Tuxedo Park to Nyack to Burlington to the other side of Burlington and finally back here to Charlotte.

It should go without saying that moving this much is more stress than any one family needs, but I’ll say it anyway. But there are silver linings, that help you make it through these things.

Silver lining 1: Shedding. It is impossible to move house without leaving behind, selling off, or giving away things that you no longer want.  Moving in rapid succession quickly trims what you no longer need, use, or value. It also conditions you to think twice before buying more ‘stuff’.

Silver lining 2: Unearthing forgotten gems. When packing and unpacking what you are keeping, there are always items long forgotten in drawers and boxes being rediscovered.  This past move we found an old photo album of pictures of Nina from before she was 4. It was like uncovering a buried chest of treasure.

Silver lining 3: Finding what was lost. This is related to number 2, but is distinct in that you are not just rediscovering, you are finding something that was believed lost, not just forgotten.  Case in point – my LiveAdMaker mug, which I was sure was gone forever (and I’m fairly certain is irreplaceable) showed up today. Yay!

Silver lining 4: Apply new good habits, leave behind old bad ones.

Our return to cohousing brings with it a lot of opportunities. I feel like I have crammed a lot of growth into the past 2 years, both personally as well as professionally. Bringing that back to CVC feels right, and valuable. We had considered selling our home here, and had actually put it on the market.

But now, being back and getting settled, remembering the quality of life here in Vermont and particularly Charlotte…it feels very, very good.