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Sunday 6 November 2011

The Stress of New

A quick internet search of stress indicates that there are several common events in our lives that are considered highly stressful.  Weddings, divorce, births, deaths, a new job and moving are all on the list (and I agree with them totally).  Experts claim that if you start combining these, the result is an exponential increase in the stress level. 

So what it is about “new” that is so stressful for us?  Weddings and births are events that are looked forward too and welcomed by one and all, new jobs are actively sought and celebrated and finally being able to buy a house is for many, the final step to being a fully independent and successful person.  All of these events deal with new, usually cost far more than we think they are going to and throw the routines of our lives into uproar.

On September 30, the deal to purchase my Old Stone House closed and I can finally post a picture:




I think the stress of new is not so much about new, as the disruption or total destruction of the old and familiar.  I had my kitchen unpacked and more or less working within 24 hours of the moving van leaving the house, but then I had to go back to work and we were still getting our old house ready to sell so it ended up taking me three weeks to find the rest of my clothes and even longer to find my shoes.  We could live in this house, but we weren’t living comfortably.   I still don’t know where my wool stash is....and that for me is stressful.

My old routines are gone – I have a 90 minute commute now instead of 25.  The TV is more centrally located in the house so I’m watching more of it instead of reading.  A great deal of my furniture is still at the old house (for staging purposes) so I feel like I’m “making do”.  We see the new and different things in our lives and struggle to accommodate them. 

But it doesn’t take long for the new and strange to become comfortable.  I’m finding joy in the long drive to work by watching the sun rise.  I’m PVRing the shows I want to watch, and I found the local yarn shop. 

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