Monday, February 16, 2009

The Migrant Lifestyle

My words often speak of the desire to "settle down" when the time comes for us to start a family, but I wonder if that will ever become a reality. I've moved 12 times in the past 8 years (since I left home after high school), and am about to make it 13. Now of course the college lifestyle is prone to rapidly-changing locatedness, but I've been out of college, working full-time, and married for almost 5 years now and still continue this pattern of moving every year.

I'm not sure why this has happened, and am less sure if it will continue throughout the coming years of my life, but it is causing me to ask questions about why I fail to "stay." Is this a bad thing that I move so often? Do I have issues committing to a certain way of life? Do I easily get bored with my current situation? Will I be able to suddenly "stay" once I have children (and is that "stability" even important for kids?)?

I have no real answers to these questions, but am finally starting to recognize this pattern in my life and taking seriously the task of asking why this pattern exists. All I know for now is that this upcoming move across town will be much easier than the previous move across the country. Thank God for that!

2 comments:

  1. I have also moved a lot since graduating. 7 times in the past 5 years. Now that we have Ab we definitely want to settle down and stop moving so much, but, that will at least take 1 more move for us. I don't think it is as hard on kids to move until they start to go to school and make friends. But then I guess I don't know for sure since I lived in 1 place for the first 18 years of my life. I loved being in one place and not moving around while I grew up.

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  2. I enjoyed living in the same place too, but I wonder if we would have had richer experiences through living in different areas and getting to meet different people. Both are probably good for different reasons I suppose.

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