Tips for dealing with change/ moving.

Pretty flowers from one of my walks!

Why hello everyone, I hope you are all having a good day/ evening/ 2 am. 

    I have been in Oregon for about 6 days, and it has been filled with immense confusion, happiness, and uneasiness. When I first move somewhere, I always find that I tend to fall into a state of lostness; which is extremely understandable given the circumstances. However, each time becomes easier and easier, for I have learned different tactics to make the change as smooth as possible. 

        1. Prepare yourself for this change.

In the time leading up to whatever move or change you are expecting, make sure that you are prepared for it mentally. This is quite important, for your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Your mind needs to be ready for an uproot in what you are used to as well as your comfortability with it. Some ways in which I do this are: scoping out the area that I will be living in online before I move and making a note of specific grocery stores, gyms, coffee shops, etc. I also make sure that I have a list of things to do when I arrive at the new location, for if you are sitting alone in your space for days on end, that may cause you to be lost or thinking (worrying) a lot about this change. Ways I fill up my time are: going on walks to see what I am surrounded by and checking out the area in person, stocking up my fridge and spending time cooking wholesome meals, and finding a nice coffee shop or library to journal about how I am feeling. These things are suggestions for things to do other than work.  

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        ​2. Make the space you’re living in feel true to you. 

    Now this is a big one for me; you may be asking yourself, Hope, why are you decorating a space that you will be living in for less than two months? And to that, I say simply comfort. I’ve lived in well over 10 rooms at this point and each have been decorated to my liking no matter the amount of time I would be spending there. There is something so valuable about having a space that is truly yours; that you can be in and simply relax or decompress during any point in the day. Now, before I was speaking about how you need to make sure your mind is in a good place during this change, but you also need to make sure your body is also in a good space. I find when I leave my stuff thrown around my living situation as well as half-emptied suitcases that I must rummage through in the morning to find an outfit… I am simply stressed out; no one needs more stress in situations revolving such change. 


     3. TRY AND BE SOCIAL (especially if you’re moving somewhere where you don't know anyone.)    
 
    Alright, the last one and the hardest for me to do. When I first got to my place in Portland, I dropped my bags down, scarfed down 2 protein bars (that’s all I had lol), and went onto Bumble Friends and started swiping till I drifted off into a jetlagged slumber. If you don’t know what Bumble Friends is, it’s basically a dating app for friendships, and wowowowowow- 10/10! Another way I have found was just complimenting people wherever I go (workers, people in coffee shops, some random girls you see sitting in a park on a super cute blanket), and that sometimes sparks a conversation! But, you have to make sure you actually make plans with these people, cause I have found that having people I know is essential to my social life as well as my mental comfortability and wellbeing. 

    Alsooo on the complete opposite end of that point though, I feel the need to add that it is okay to be alone sometimes. I have greatly been using this time to work on myself; a lot of this work has been on the topic of being okay alone. As I do understand that having friends makes the world a whole lot better because you can experience it with other people, it also is important to make sure you are your friend as well. I have been finding that I do not mind taking myself out to dinner alone, or going to sit in the park with a good book alone, or even being in my room right now writing this alone- and it’s actually a very comforting feeling! Although along with this time alone, I have also gone on two friendship “dates” and they both have gone astonishingly well! So overall, make sure you have a good balance of both that caters to what you know you will need. 


Anyways, I hoped this helped you,
- Hope Joy <3

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