{"id":237,"date":"2012-04-09T17:23:04","date_gmt":"2012-04-09T22:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/?p=237"},"modified":"2012-04-10T12:24:17","modified_gmt":"2012-04-10T17:24:17","slug":"unpacking-can-only-happen-if-you-first-choose-to-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/?p=237","title":{"rendered":"Unpacking Can Only Happen if You First Choose to Pack"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

My new backyard.<\/p><\/div>\n

I moved into a new apartment two days ago.\u00a0 Usually, moving completely sucks.\u00a0 All the packing, the boxes, the packing tape that keeps disappearing into itself when you are in a rush to cut off the next piece.\u00a0 Then there are those stairs that love to coach you into refining your calf muscles.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not forget the unpacking part.\u00a0 It\u2019s like playing real life Tetris or putting together a puzzle with pieces the size and weight of those Harry Potter chess pieces in that one movie (or book, but if you know me, you know I didn\u2019t read it in order to confirm).<\/p>\n

Anyway, moving is hard.\u00a0 Change is hard.\u00a0 This time, I had change that I was looking forward to.\u00a0 A new place, new colorful paint on the walls, a new landlord, no mice, saving money, and a park as my backyard.\u00a0 Lots to look forward to!\u00a0 The process of getting to the new is hard though.\u00a0 Again, the packing, the loading, the transporting, the un<\/em>loading, and the un<\/em>packing.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s push the pause button for a second.\u00a0 Something to know about me\u2026I like metaphors.\u00a0 I live metaphors, I work with metaphors, and I speak in metaphors.\u00a0 You could say that this way of thinking is hereditary (thank you, Dad).\u00a0 I like it, though.\u00a0 For someone who may not be the best storyteller or joke-teller, metaphors really help me bring to light the meaning in what I\u2019m trying to say.\u00a0 Metaphors can connect us on an all-sensory level.\u00a0 As I talked about moving, you likely remembered a time when you moved.\u00a0 You remembered all the sweat, the backaches, the feeling of \u201chow did I accumulate all this stuff?\u201d\u00a0 I think this is important.\u00a0 Metaphors can help us connect and empathize for one another.\u00a0 I appreciate this aid in connection.<\/p>\n

So, back to the change is hard thing.\u00a0 You make a choice (or maybe a choice is made for you) and you have to get through the process.\u00a0 The packing<\/em><\/strong>: you load all your stuff into boxes you have taped together yourself.\u00a0 You carefully wrap the breakables into newspaper and old t-shirts.\u00a0 You label the boxes in hopes that you are serving as a guide for later unpacking.\u00a0 You tape everything shut and put it aside for loading.\u00a0 The loading<\/em><\/strong>: hopefully, with some support from a good group of friends and a nice big truck, you carefully load all the boxes and heavy furniture with a strategy that fits everything together so tightly that no space is wasted.\u00a0 The transporting<\/em><\/strong>: sometimes you are lucky enough to have a short drive to the other side of town.\u00a0 Sometimes you are not so lucky and you must travel across the country.\u00a0 This is the more excruciating of the two because you deal with body aches paired with the anxious feeling of just wanting to get there already!\u00a0 (Taking breaks for leg stretches might be necessary here).\u00a0 Either way, you hope that your ironing board doesn\u2019t fall out the back as you make the turns.\u00a0 The unloading<\/em><\/strong>: finally, you make it to your destination!\u00a0 But wait\u2026now you\u2019ve got to unload it all.\u00a0 Hopefully your friends are still around for this, making the burden of the boxes a little lighter as you hike up and down all those stairs.\u00a0 The unpacking<\/em><\/strong>: it\u2019s sometimes a lonely process.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to understand where everything is and that might feel very overwhelming.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to find the motivation and inspiration to take on the task.\u00a0 One by one, you open the boxes and find out exactly what you packed.\u00a0 Sometimes you stop to reminisce at that one photo album you haven\u2019t looked at in years.\u00a0 Sometimes you find things that you thought you needed, but then realize you don\u2019t.\u00a0 Then eventually, over time, you find a place for everything and once again you are settled into a more comfortable and cozy home.<\/p>\n

In this process that requires time, support, and effort, we know that we can\u2019t get to the unpacking before we go through all the other parts\u2026the parts that got us there.\u00a0 We can\u2019t always rush to the end where we can feel all cozy and at home.\u00a0 Most of the time, we have to go through a process that will require our creativity, that will give us time to sit in our emotions, that will bring about emotional soreness, that will test our patience, that will force us to face the things that feel so overwhelming, and that encourage us to reflect on our experiences.<\/p>\n

We often see this change process as a task, a burden.\u00a0 What if the task is really a disguised opportunity?\u00a0 What if instead of having<\/em> to get through the process, we have the opportunity<\/em> to get through the process?\u00a0 Maybe there is value in the hardship.<\/p>\n

What is your change right now?\u00a0 What boxes are you packing, loading, transporting, unloading, or unpacking?\u00a0 In all the hardship that comes with change, I urge you to throw this ingredient into the mix: look beyond the task and reach for the opportunity.\u00a0 Feel out the tough moments, but also look for the purpose.\u00a0 Look for the opportunity to learn and grow.\u00a0 Then let the natural momentum of your efforts bring you up and out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I moved into a new apartment two days ago.\u00a0 Usually, moving completely sucks.\u00a0 All the packing, the boxes, the packing tape that keeps disappearing into itself when you are in a rush to cut off the next piece.\u00a0 Then there are those stairs that love to coach you into refining your calf muscles.\u00a0 And let\u2019s not forget the unpacking part.\u00a0 Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[37,43],"coauthors":[19],"class_list":["post-237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-helloworld","tag-change","tag-metaphors"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/540329_10100566004619172_17114912_47468994_1256134952_n3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions\/278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=237"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/collectiveinquiry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}