My bed left yesterday; I shall not look upon it's like again. My dining room table and chairs that I bought eight or nine years ago left today. I cleaned out my desk drawers at work today, and have been training my replacement. It's down to packing my kitchen, my clothes, and my toiletries, pretty much, and I'm good to go. I have a bunch of stuff to take to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, too. But I'm actually feeling like I'm in really good shape for someone who is moving in five days. Four days until the movers come, actually.
But I didn't sleep last night. I was trying to sleep on my futon, which will be my bed in New York, and I don't think I lost consciousness for more than ten minutes at a stretch. I was missing my bed, in my bedroom. As was Owen - he didn't come sleep with me until nearly morning. And today, I was mourning the projects I won't do at work since I am leaving. Mourning taking down my pictures and removing my secret personal stash of tea from the second drawer. Mourning the routine that I've gotten used to over the last seven years, even though I was very unhappy with large portions of it.
The thing about mourning, though, is that it needs to happen. Be it the loss of a loved one, a job, a relationship, or the comfort of a stable lifestyle, as circumstances in life change, I think it is important to take notice and mourn the loss of what you had. I'm not saying dwell in the past forever. I'm saying take stock of the event in retrospect, and figure out which memories and life lessons you want to hold onto and which ones you should let go of.
I love Chicago. I have loved living in this apartment. I have loved having a steady income that has allowed me to save some money. I have loved so many of the people I have met along the way. These things, I will not forget.
It is time to go adventuring. So I'm going to pack up my kitchen and my clothes and my remaining knick knacks and I'm going to go off on an adventure to see what new cities, apartments, jobs, and people I can fall in love with next.
I hope I have enough boxes.