Movement and Rest
In my last post, I discussed my shaky work history resulting from past substance abuse. Like a lot of addicts, I've jumped from job to job, often with significant gaps of time between positions. Reflecting on my employment record (eight employers since obtaining my degree, not including temp. jobs) got me thinking about my related tendency to change living arrangements frequently.
I got used to being on the move when I was in college. It felt perfectly normal to trek back and forth between my parents' house and various locations in my college town. But I never expected I'd continue to be a vagabond for so long afterward. In the ten years since I graduated, I've had thirteen different addresses. And considering I moved back with my folks on few separate occasions, I have moved a grand total of seventeen times in the past decade.
Now that I have a family of my own, I'm hoping our next move can be at least semi-permanent. I wouldn't want for us to have to live at our current location for the rest of our lives, although a couple years would be okay, if necessary. I'd like to remain here until we can afford to buy a place worth staying in for the long-term. I haven't maintained the same residence for more than a year-and-a-half since the Reagan administration.
I get weary just thinking of all the boxes packed and unpacked, furniture hauled, leases signed, interviews attended, jobs started, and jobs ended, by choice or otherwise.
It's time to put some roots down, which is another thing I can't do unless I maintain my sobriety.