I am almost done with all my unpacking. Well, that is, the actual taking items out of the box. There are still months ahead of fixing up the house, respositioning items and finding odd things that are mismatched. Just such a fact alone would seem to indicate that unpacking is a bit tedious. And it is. I’ve been knee deep for over a week in tediousness. My calves hurt to no end as well due to me having to go up and down the stairs repeatedly with boxes. I’ve been sweating up a bucket from all my unpacking activity.

Yet, I don’t necessarily feel that unpacking is worse than packing. Both, in odd ways are filled with grand optimism. As I packed up items, I assessed their worthiness of  tape, time and box space.   Meanwhile, I also envisioned a new location and future for each item. As I packed up my 100th dress, I imagined that I would definitely wear it this year. I would find the perfect occasion for it.   Admittedly, after several weeks of packing, I came to hate packing. It was never ending. Every nook and cranny had some other item that needed to be wrapped up and packed into a box.   At one point, I discovered a whole bottom kitchen cabinet that had been forgotten. Well, this was dicovered at 10pm after a day of packing up the kitchen and feeling invigorated by finishing up a room.   At that time of the night, I felt deflated.

When moving day finally came, I was super excited. I barely slept the night before.   Well, that wasn’t so much from excitement, but rather from being exhausted finishing up the packing of knick knacks. As moving day progressed, I went from packing to unpacking within the span of hours. I was energized. I was eager. I was pumped up.  I was running on fumes and I was running. When I opened up many of the boxes it was often a big surprise. It was almost like Christmas morning on a large-scale.   There were big brown boxes everywhere with things that sometimes seemed new to me. There were moments of excitement as I not only envisioned a future for the items but actually operationalized its future. I was giving the items a new setting and a new resulting life.

I must admit that bit by bit, day after day, and a week in, I’m tired of unpacking. I’m finding that locating new futures for many of the items was going to be quite time-consuming. And, I have a ton of other things I need to get done. I’ve been realizing this is a long-term endeavor. I can get through this. I know I can. Which is worse? I honestly, couldn’t tell you. There’s a tediousness to packing and unpacking and a glory to both. I suppose that’s life

At the end of it all, I have my bog cup of coffee to get me through it all.