In a few months time, I will be moving somewhere not yet determined. I am very excited, and also very apprehensive.
Living alone in an entirely new place can feel daunting, and the foreignness of your new home can be both exciting and terrifying. It can be especially terrifying for people who may have never moved before in their life, or for people who get their energy from other people, but don’t have a lot of friends in the area yet. However, after my experience going and visiting a friend who had recently moved, I got a few ideas about how to mitigate this fear, and be more comfortable in a new place.
In order to get a better understanding of what moving might be like, I talked to a close friend of mine who had just moved up to Lebanon, NH. She was having a slightly hard time getting comfortable in her new environment, so I went up and visited her to help figure it out.
Let me just say, Lebanon is absolutely gorgeous. When trying to work out what it had to offer we found tons of really beautiful places.
We went to an amazing farmer’s market,
hiked up a mountain that had astounding views,
and stumbled upon a huge lake hidden in the middle of a forest hike.
While sitting at the edge of the lake, we talked about the fact that Lebanon had such a wild diversity of beautiful places just 5-10 mins from her home, and how that made her feel more comfortable.
As I discovered vicariously through visiting my friend, going on small adventures like these can help you fall in love with your new home. However, these kind of thoughts and environments aren’t always present, unless you find ways to remind yourself how much you enjoy where you are and what you are doing. This kind of awareness of your thoughts and surroundings is called mindfulness, and it can be a really important tool for adapting to changes of any kind.
I suggested she make a map of places around her town where she felt at home, and put pins in the map at those locations with pictures. This provides a visualization of all the great places and memories that you already have in your new locale. We were surprised at how many places we could add to the map in just a weekend’s time. This constant reminder of where you are in relation to places where you feel at comfortable can help you make great strides towards getting acclimated to your new environment, and towards being a generally happier person.
If you are struggling to feel at home, it can have negative effects on your confidence and productivity. Simple mindfulness exercises like this map will not only help combat this struggle, but can also help you take advantage of the exciting adventure of going somewhere new.
It doesn’t have to be pins in a map, or hikes and farmer’s markets. The important part of this exercise is practicing a mindset of awareness regarding all the positive memories and opportunities that surround you every day, wherever you may be.
