The Big Move

For the last several days, I've been working on moving about half of my worldly belongings across the country with my Partner and the love of my live, Bev. I would love to tell you that everything has been hunky-dory and that there is absolutely nothing at all that has caused either of us discomfort. 

But here's the thing about relationships - it's always going to be difficult. It doesn't matter how much Bev and I love each other, because relationships take work, and the two of us will always need to work on communication. 

Just last night, I had to move from the bed out onto the couch of our final Airbnb of the trip because for several hours in the middle of the night, I couldn't lie down flat without coughing, and I think this fact might have upset my partner. (I don't blame them at all, to be honest, and I would have felt the same if they had abandoned me in the middle of the night.) 

I really think that's part of the excitement of this move, though. We're testing the strength of our relationship and our ability to be flexible with one another. They deserve my devotion and love, and I deserve their honesty and trust. Unless we both work to make this happen, it won't. Because as one of my favorite professors once told me: Change doesn't happen on accident.

One of the things that I've come to learn since Bev and I got together is that there are LOTS of things that we disagree on. Some of them (a lot of them) are big, hot-button topics of a political persuasion, and the two of us have learned how to discuss these subjects with care and respect for one another's viewpoints. It doesn't mean that neither of us ever gets upset and it doesn't mean that the disagreements magically never happen. There is no such cure for the human condition, unfortunately, and anyone that tries to persuade you of such a thing is probably selling you something. 

I have high hopes for what's going to come next. Time to work on my book. The energy to return to my passion for blogging and podcasting. Headspace to process and even become active in political discussions. And most importantly, the freedom to more fully explore who I am in the light of my relationship with Christ and with Bev. 

Because if there's one thing I've learned in my short life on this little blue marble, it's that my relationships should help me see me more clearly. If I'm not reflecting on myself, I can't very well make the educated changes I need to be a better person, can I? 

Until next time, signing off from the Eastern Time Zone. 

    - Taylor