Your Furniture: Take It or Leave It
Years ago, at a 911 driving school, a retired police officer and my driving instructor explained a concept called velocitation, related to highway driving. DriversEd.com describes it this way:
“Velocitation is a phenomenon caused by driving for long periods at high speeds. A driver may experience velocitation when coming off of the highway; the change in speed makes him or her think that the car is going much slower than it actually is.”
In addition to being a great way to get a speeding ticket, velocitation is all about perception. When it comes to moving, perception is important when you need to determine what furniture to bring with you.
Here are three ideas to help you decide:
1) It is possible to become so accustomed to your furniture that you barely notice it, but also so accustomed in a different way that you will miss it in your new home if you don’t bring it with you or replace it.
2) The age and state of that furniture will probably have a big impact on which items you choose to bring with you. Take a good, hard look at the state your furniture is in. It can be really easy to overlook the rips, scratches, and scuffs, because they’ve been there so long. After you’ve taken a good look, determine what needs to be replaced and make a list. Then schedule out some time to shop for replacements after you get moved in.
3) Deciding what to throw out, and what to keep can be stressful. There are times to make the tough decision to replace well-worn furniture. Other times, you can choose to wait, and save money if your furniture is in good condition with just a few small scratches.
In Driver’s Ed, they taught us about a lot more than just velocitation, and we knew at the end, there would be a test. And the closer we got to the test, the more stressed I felt. Moving day sometimes can feel the same way, but it doesn’t have to.
I discovered that, with prior study you can largely reduce or even eliminate stress before a test. And with proper preparation, you can do the same for moving. So take your time, plan it out. And when it’s done, relax and enjoy your new home.
