Change is beautiful, liberating, and an absolute logistical nightmare.
By the end of this year, I am officially changing jobs. While I’m a bit anxious about the next chapter, it comes with a terrifying catch: I have to pack up an office that I’ve occupied for the last nine years. Nine years! When you stay in one workspace for nearly a decade, you don’t just build a career, you accidentally build a deeply confusing museum of your own past.
As I started digging through my desk drawers this week, I realized that inertia is a powerful force. When we stay stationary, we hoard. We don't mean to, but we do. So far, I have lugged four massive bags of random items home just to sort through them. My living room currently looks like an episode of Hoarders: Corporate Edition.
It turns out that moving, whether it’s a house or an office, is the only thing capable of forcing us into a heavy duty life audit. When you aren't moving, you just look at a random object, shrug, and shove it back into the dark abyss of a cabinet. We tell ourselves bold faced lies like, “I absolutely must keep this printed PowerPoint presentation from 2017,” or “This tangled web of mystery cables will definitely come in handy during a tech apocalypse.”
But a deadline forces you to hold every single object, look it in the eye, and ask: Do I actually want to carry this heavy piece of plastic to my car? Usually, the answer is a resounding no.
The peak reality check hit me when I found the framed photos of my kids on my desk. They’ve been sitting there since day one. I stared at them and suddenly realized I’ve been displaying pictures of tiny toddlers who are now practically grown adults. They are so much bigger now! I’ve been acting like they’re frozen in time. As it turns out, I don’t actually need nine-year-old frames holding photos of children who now look completely different. The memories are great, but my next desk deserves an update that matches the current decade.
Purging your space is the ultimate mental detox. It forces you to look at how much you’ve evolved, laugh at the things you used to think mattered, and intentionally decide what gets a ticket to your future.
If you have a move on the horizon, don't just blindly buy boxes and pack everything up. Embrace the chaos, question every single receipt and dried out pen, and enjoy the lighter, freer feeling of leaving your junk behind. Your spine will thank you!
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