8/7/2023 10 Comments Ghosts & Emptying RoomsThere is a very specific aura to a slowly emptying room. It’s a sobering sight to see sunbeams that once bent with sharp angles across shelves and picture frames suddenly spread unbroken across the floors and walls.
“No, there should be a clothing rack here… I remember putting it together. And there should be a table over there… that’s where we have game nights with our friends.” If this were just a mystery of disappearing shelves like some sort of Bermuda Triangle for furniture, it would actually be a thrilling excuse to call Mulder and Scully over to open up an "X-file" on our house. But the reality is much more bittersweet and explainable: Katie and I are moving out of Alaska and down to Idaho. I don’t know how to feel. I’m insanely excited. I’m insanely intimidated. I want to share this journey with you partially as an exorcism of the exhaustion and stress, but also because it feels like an amazing journey, and I want you to be a part of it. There is an incredible amount of work behind buying and selling a house, coordinating with a moving company, finding/starting new jobs, and connecting with experts that know where all these pieces fit together. All of that is piled on top of alternating bouts of crippling self-doubt and misty-eyed optimism that turn the stomach and chest into a sickening stew of nerves. There is a buzz of wonderful excitement in the air that comes with all these nerves too. I am excited to be closer to family. I am excited to see new scenery and breathe new air. Change is exciting. Still, as these rooms start to empty, it makes me remember all of the people I love here in Alaska. They’ve been in these rooms. They are a part of this place. It makes me want to hold tight to the things that are starting to disappear. I feel like I’m murdering memories and leaving them as ghosts to haunt this house. It’s safe to say that I’ve had a hard time going into some of these emptying rooms lately. “Can we maybe put that shelf back where it was? Just for a moment?” But don’t let these melancholy thoughts lead you to believe that this move is being made with utter sadness. The northwest is calling Katie and I, and it has been for a while. I decided to call this project EST.NORTHWEST because for as long as Katie and I have been together, we’ve always discussed the desire to put roots down in the northwest. We have been wanting to establish ourselves up (down?) in that beautiful corner of the country. The northwest is a part of Katie’s DNA, and a part of the country that I have increasingly fallen in love with as I’ve been able to see more and more of it. What about the memories that we have here? Well, that’s the beauty of them… they get to go with us. Once we start settling into our lives in Idaho I don’t necessarily want this writing project to end, so a name like Moving to Idaho wouldn’t only have been a little dull, but it would have also implied that the journey itself would have an endpoint after the move was complete. But this journey won’t have an end. This journey is always happening. I want to write about all of it, and I want you to be there for all of it. Thank you for reading my first post, friends. You are a part of our journey now, and we are so happy to have you!
10 Comments
Cheri McDonald
8/7/2023 01:53:23 pm
I love you both. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on the journey. A new season of life is not only sad but very exciting.
Reply
Jon Schulz
8/7/2023 03:42:18 pm
We love you too, Cheri! We are certainly very excited for what is coming up :)
Reply
Kim Oudin
8/7/2023 01:59:30 pm
Love it. Excited for you guys. 100% understand your thoughts and feelings. Dallas —>Barrow—->ER…the memories never die.
Reply
Jon Schulz
8/7/2023 03:43:16 pm
It's super exciting, but hard to leave some of this behind. We'll miss you guys!
Reply
Kimberly Shillinger
8/7/2023 02:25:06 pm
So well written and expressed Jon! It made me cry! I will miss you both- I’m so excited to for your new journey and I can’t wait to hear all about how it goes!
Reply
Jon Schulz
8/7/2023 03:44:27 pm
Aw, thank you Kim! We are definitely going to miss you, but that just means you'll need to come visit often :)
Reply
Renee Hammett
8/7/2023 02:39:48 pm
Alaska’s loss & Idaho’s gain…we will miss you but many memories live on!! Best of everything to you both!
Reply
Jon Schulz
8/7/2023 03:45:09 pm
Thank you, Renee! Going to miss you guys like crazy!
Reply
Nanci Lomen
8/7/2023 02:55:13 pm
You have such talent, you continue to amaze me!! I’m so excited for you both! I know you will be missed in Alaska, obviously, and you will be enveloped in love in Idaho, because you are so very lovable. Friends you have yet to meet and opportunities you have yet to consider are waiting for you - enjoy yourselves and trust in who you have been created to be!! Hugs to you both.
Reply
Jon Schulz
8/7/2023 03:46:14 pm
Thank you, Nanci! It's not easy to leave AK but there is so much to look forward to... Hugs to you!
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Jon SchulzArchivesCategories |