Live a move serenely
Moving: a source of stress
Numerous studies state that moving is the third major stressor and weakening factor after bereavement and dismissal. The hours change, you have to take care of the administrative details… but moving is also a source of emotional imbalances. In another region, in a distant city or around the corner, moving implies a break with lifestyles, habits and family environment. A move can correspond to the desire to move on, but it can also be associated with a fear of not finding what one has left behind (nice and reliable neighbors, a comfortable home, a pleasant environment ...). Some psychoanalysts compare the stress of moving house to the separations experienced in childhood. Others also argue that every change in life it brings back the famous "original break", the moment in which the child leaves the womb, going towards the unknown. Surely, if the move is imposed (for unemployment, forced changes, financial reasons), it will be experienced even worse, and it can even become traumatizing. In addition to causing a legitimate loss of reference points, it can lead to loss of esteem, associated with a feeling of failure. Result: latent anxiety and, stress, if not depression, are frequently encountered following a move.
Mourning for the old house
To calmly accept the change of situation (even if it was desired) and take advantage of the new life, you will have to mourn for the old house, in your neighborhood but also for the people who have surrounded you and sometimes supported you over the years. Many of the people who move tend to take a last stroll around the building or neighborhood to chat with the shopkeepers and say hello to the neighbors.
Settle into the new home
Moving also means putting your life and things in order. By preparing the cartons, you make a selection of the objects, but not only. Ornaments, photo albums, clothes… many memories come back to the surface, others dissolve. On the other hand, there are those who take advantage of the move to get rid of bulky objects, to take the essentials with them and separate from what is superfluous. There are two possibilities to get used to a new home:
- If you are afraid of feeling too confused, you can try to give the rooms the same arrangement (place of furniture, objects).
- If you want to start from scratch, completely change the decoration and arrangement of the furniture.
Encourage children
Leaving school, teachers, classmates ... As with adults, some children and adolescents may feel destabilized by the idea of moving or, on the contrary, they may experience this experience as a new beginning, an exciting adventure. The best thing to do is to follow them closely in this test, taking them to see the new house, discovering together where the shops, the school, the gym, the cinema are ... that is, those places that allow everyone to get new points of reference.
Establish good neighborly relations
Once the move is finished, there is another difficulty: integrating with the neighborhood. Do you miss the retired couple on the second floor, always ready to give you a hand, or the two off-site students who always invited you for an aperitif? What does it matter, from now on it will be essential to make new acquaintances: they will undoubtedly be just as pleasant. After settling in your new nest, get to know your neighbors, showing up at their door or organizing an aperitif at your home. Most people are sensitive to this kind of attention. The more you are informed about the functioning of the condominium and the air you breathe in it, the easier the transition from the old to the new life will be ...
