Ch-Ch-Changes

So for someone who hasn't had a great deal going on other than appointments and ER visits, this week ushers in a significant amount of new and pending developments. The first is (and I am serious this time) I am fleeing Victoria tomorrow to the shiny metropolis of Toronto for a quick visit with some of the people I love most. Second, we took the plunge and met with a realtor about finally putting our beloved house on the market - which could happen in less than a few weeks by the look of things. A necessary decision - but one that makes me emotional at the same time. I was a very late bloomer when it came to real estate and this is the second place we (and the bank!) have owned after years of schlepping from rental to rental. While Kirk had previously known the joy and pain of home ownership - it was all new to me. We started with a townhouse and then set our sites on a tucked-away, small house in James Bay at a moment when things were looking up and the market was at its peak. But time and circumstances have changed and making the shift to something more manageable is necessary now for all sorts of reasons. The prospect of moving on carries a lot of excitement mixed in, for me, with a little bit of sorrow. I resist change of all descriptions - I crave it constantly - but when it comes down to it, am either too afraid or too resigned to leap. I think about the fact that to our youngest dog-child - this is the only home she has ever known - and the prospect of taking both of our pups away from a neighbourhood they love makes me teary-eyed. And the fact is - this was so much more than a house to me - it has been my shelter and a symbol of everything I worked for and thought I needed to achieve. But as I started to load up my suitcase this morning, I started thinking about the things that are essential - the things we carry with us and those we leave behind. That when you get right down to it what we really need is so much smaller than what we think we want - and the baggage we can't let go of is so much bigger than our shoulders need to bear.