Just a month ago, after over nearly a decade and a half in the same house, it was time for us to move to another apartment complex in the neighbourhood.
There was both trepidation and excitement, and we theorized that it all boiled down to a simple matter of packing all our stuff into cartons and then unpacking them at the other end. Well, it was time to put our theory to the test!
Once the cartons were delivered, my husband announced that the packers had mentioned to him that sixty was usually the average number of cartons that people generally packed. They had given us eighty cartons, but the unspoken golden number target floating around our home was sixty.
How did one pack sixteen years of possessions into a mere sixty cartons. We watched decluttering, upcycling, and recycling videos. We sold stuff, and we learnt new hacks on space optimization.
The first twenty or so cartons were sheer works of art. Their interiors were filled with a precision that would have put professionals to shame. They were labelled with neat descriptions that were bullet pointed and colour coded.
Phase two was, “Why do we have so much stuff?” Phase two happened with mild irritation. The interiors of the cartons were a little haphazard but were not too bad! The labelling continued.
By this time, we had reached forty-odd cartons. My husband suddenly kept repeating the target of sixty cartons.
Phase three was the “We are weary.” We had become automatons, opening the cartons, sealing them with tape, filling them, and resealing them. There were cartons everywhere, and the days had all become a blur.
Phase four arrived two days before we were due to vacate. We had breached the golden number of sixty, we were at sixty-four, and throwing helpless glances at each other. Phase four was the “start throwing stuff in” phase, where organising and labelling had clearly become things of the past.
And then, somehow, we were done. All cartons packed, the house empty and echoing the sound of our voices.
My husband and I looked at the cartons. The list read 70 cartons. We smiled. We knew why we had so many cartons. We realised that not only did we pack our possessions but also the wonderful memories from this beautiful home that had been our safe haven for all these years; whose walls had absorbed our laughter and tears, where we had seen successes and failures, where we had become familiar with every scratch, every noise; where we had stood on the balcony and stared at the world; where we had watched the lashing rain; where we had friends who filled our hearts with joy, laughter and love; where we felt blessed to have had all that we did for so long!!
The trucks arrived, the cartons were loaded, and it was time to say bye with a heart filled with love and gratitude.
The cartons arrived in our new home. And as we unpacked, the sounds of birds whistling and tweeting in the trees nearby came floating in the air. We put away our books, curios, pots and pans, the toaster, the coffee maker, the chargers and the cables, and the bed linen and the stationery – hundreds of things – both small and big.
In every room, we also carefully unpacked and stored our precious memories, our most valuable possessions!
Simple Moments of Life 