Moving

What can I say about moving? This is my 17th move in my 47 years, and it never gets any easier - in fact it gets harder. Those who move a lot have no illusions about what we are leaving behind. It's easy to say "lets keep in touch", "I'll visit often", "we'll email", "I'll see you on Facebook", etc. But what you leave behind is gone forever, with only remnants left. This is why those who have moved a lot have trouble creating emotional attachments - self preservation.

But that is only the negative side. We are always moving toward something, learning new things, meeting new and interesting people, and discovering exciting challenges. Everything we didn't like about our old situation can be left behind! We can make a new start and recreate whatever we don't like about ourselves. We have a blank page to write on, and we can learn from old mistakes.

Although I am heartsick about leaving my friends and colleagues, I am excited about new places and people. And there are always libraries - big or small, public or academic, they will sustain me.