Hi again friends!
So last week’s post was all about following long held dreams of moving to Nashville and all the excitement that came with it. Now that I’ve been here two months it’s time to talk to talk about reality: moving to a new city is always hard. Moving during a global pandemic, well that’s just not something I think you can even prepare for (or would even think to prepare for). It honestly hasn’t been all bad, and in the spirit of gratitude there are LOTS of things about my situation to be thankful for, but moving has definitely looked different than it did back in January 2020.
I titled this post my life as a Disney Princess for a couple reasons, besides a deep love of all things Disney. First and foremost, I’m probably a few more weeks or quarantine away from the woodland creatures (quite fittingly deer, bunnies and squirrels) that surround my apartment complex starting to talk back to me. I also currently have the Snow White haircut – might be worth seeing if the woodland creatures want to come in and clean my apt for me. The whole stay inside and don’t socialize brings Repunzel and Belle to mind too. I’ve definitely had lots of time to read! (Sam’s Book Nook will be launching this week too!).
In some practical ways this move was one of the least stressful moves I’ve undertaken. Mostly because it was SO necessary and exciting! I mentioned briefly last post, I lost my job due to coronovirus, which while job loss will probably be a topic of its own at some point – this left me lots of time to pack up my apartment and then unpack here in Nashville and do all the tasks like changing your license and registration and running all the errands. Also because of coronavirus, I have never had so much to time focus on fitness! And socially – we’re all communicating digitally so it hasn’t been as unusual to FaceTime friends or watch church online; it really kept my social meter full and like I was engaged in my community. To anyone else living alone currently – a friend of mine and I instituted weekly weekend FaceTime “pajama chats” – HIGHLY recommend.
In other ways, this move was one of the hardest. Saying “goodbye” to Miami was basically reduced to a Facebook post or phone calls, not the one-on-one conversation or last goodbye coffees and dinners. My amazing friends did host a surprise socially -distant gathering before I left that left me pretty speechless, but after 12 years, I just unceremoniously got in the car and drove to Nashville. The pandemic also meant no family or friends to make the drive with, and making an already isolating experience just a little more isolating. Just for some levity – if you know me you know how much I thrive on live music – the irony that the year I move to Nashville will be the year I don’t attend any concerts – the irony is not lost on me. There’s a lesson in here somewhere and when I learn it I will blog about it.
Then all the errands were done, the new furniture was built and it was time to figure out how to productively spend my time because job hunting 24/7 is not practical and one can’t (okay – shouldn’t) watch bad made-for-TV movies all day. I’m on the more introverted side of the spectrum, but we’re just not meant to be alone with our thoughts for SO LONG. How do you find your people when you’re told to stay inside and that people are scary and germy? Luckily I moved to a city where I at least know a few people who have braved social interactions and make sure I left the apartment occasionally (you know who you are and I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH). In July, I finally found a church that does social distancing fairly well and started volunteering in and around Nashville. A note on church though – I had not been new to a church in over a decade and trying to be new while wearing a mask and everything being so topsy-turvy…. it’s been an experience. However, all of this has forced me to step WAY outside my comfort zone and engage in the digital world through meet up groups and other fun groups with similar interests/life stages/etc.
I think I’ll leave it there for today – just some musings on moving during the plaque and a little encouragement to anyone quarantining on their own! Some minutes it’s the best, some minutes it’s the absolute worst. A good reminder we basically have no control over anything and need to live in the moment.
Come on and we’ll sing, like we were free. Push the pedal down, watch the world around fly by us. Come on and we’ll try, one last time. I’m off of the floor one more ty to find you.
And here we go, there’s nothing left to choose. And here we go, there’s nothing left to lose.
I can still hear the trains out my window. From Hobart street to here in Nashville. I can still smell the pomegranates grow. And I don’t know how hard this wind will blow. Or where we’ll go
Mat Kearney “Nothing Left to Lose”
