Moving Out (Part 1, 11.Oct.2021)
I’ve moved out of my parents home for the first time.
Well, not the first time, but the first time for good.
I thought it would be like going to university again, living away from home, living the life (except with actual responsibilities and financial stress) however, it really doesn’t feel like that.
I think the biggest difference, despite it being quite small, is that my family home is no longer my base. It’s no longer where I know I’ll return to during term holidays. I can’t just pop home and stay for the weekend or week (well I can but that’s not really moving out then).
It is strange having to find new dentists, hairdressers, opticians, all the things that had been a constant in my life as they’d been sorted for me before I was even old enough to decide on where to go. There are so many decisions that I have to make now that I’ve never had to consider before. Which washing machine to buy, and don’t get me started on carpets.
This process has left me wondering if I’ve been too sheltered and if so, whose choice was that, my parents or my own? Either way, it doesn’t really matter, we’ve been thrown in and it’s too late to back out now.
I’ve been finding myself struggling with a lot of social anxiety. I am finding myself scared to explore where we are and the city we’ve moved to. I don’t know anyone in this city and I think that makes me feel like an outsider. At university, I was surrounded by my flatmates and I became very quickly acquainted with the city we lived in with the help of copious amounts of alcohol. It doesn’t feel that easy here. And I don’t drink anymore.
Despite this, these first couple of weeks have been good. I feel comfortable in our apartment and I have been reaching out to meet people here. I’ve had a couple of job offers and have applied to a volunteering placement on a community mental health allotment. The future feels bright and overall the moving experience has been a positive one so far.
I’m not sure what I intended this piece of writing to be, perhaps the beginning of a series of writings about my moving experience. I’ve been struggling with how I want to use my Medium platform, I don’t know what to write about and ideas feel hard to come by at the moment. Perhaps I will just use it as an online diary. Who knows?
If you’ve read this far, thank you. I appreciate you. I wish you a wonderful day (or night depending on when you read this).
