Everyone will tell you that moving house is difficult. And the older you are and the longer you have been in the house you are moving from adds to the difficulty both of external organising and internal adaptation.
We've just moved some weeks ago to be closer to adult children and grandchildren after over 32 years in a picturesque, bush area next to a mountain range. Also we had decided that caring for a larger block was not going to be viable as we got older particularly as I, for one, was not a gardener (and don't even like the t-shirt).
It's interesting to note the stages each of us has gone through. My initial reaction was not a happy one then finally more settled as we got closer to the actual going; however, on getting into the new place I slumped into a low low which has taken a while from which to recover. Elizabeth did not any feeling feeling of wanting to leave at all but has subsequently adapted very well to the new situation and setting.
Home making is a skill she has and that I lack.
We've had the problems that must beset all new home-makers I think and some I think few confront. I managed to lock us inside our new home for example! .........Don't ask!
Part of being in a new house is establishing a rhythmic routine that is not boring but is not too frenetic in pace either.
Moving disrupts lives significantly and can take some people a long time to recover them-selves. That prosaic remark raises the issue of the self that is changed when a person moves house. We like to think we are somewhat self-contained but not so. All our significant relationships with people are changed with the new distances between us and them; and the new people that come into our lives change our identity too.
It is no small matter to shift house. All changes of this type will affect the movers to varying degrees: those prone to anxiety and depression (like me) will find it much harder to adapt and get settled.
See an excellent NYT article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/realestate/28cov.html?pagewanted=1.
