Last day in Purua

All is chaos...

I am packing: endless decisions about what I will need most in the next 6 weeks and will fit in the tiny Toyota Corolla vs what I can live without until November and will be safe in storage. Imagining unlikely worst case scenarios in which I am somehow separated forever (fire! theft! injury! collapse of capitalism!) from the art objects and books I am leaving behind and all I would own is a car load of meaningless usefulness. Concentrating on the real risks inherent to spending October without a decent chair, or enough envelopes, or my duvet. Reluctantly cutting big sheets of expensive paper so they will fit flat into the back of my car.

I am cleaning: the only time I ever clean an oven is when I am moving out, so it's always a hideous task (which is why I don't do it more often- vicious circle). But I am enjoying sparkling clean windows for my last two days here. I dust the tops of lightshades and vacuum the backs of cupboards. The more houses I have moved in and out of the more I value the good karma of leaving an immaculate home for the new resident, whether or not I've paid a bond. My reward has been many years of consistent good fortune in moving into amazing bargains of rental beauty owned by amateur landlords who care about the property as if it were their own, yet often don't ask for a bond.

I am reading: a week ago I collected twenty or so books to help develop my thesis proposal and I am trying to wrap my head around them before I meet with the Superdooper Supervisors in two days. They cover democratic theory, communtiy empowerment, qualitative research methods, housing and community design and best of all: Confronting Consumption an inspiring book which made me think of at least three other thesis topics I could happily devote the next three years to researching. It has also made me think even more critically about the external forces that direct us as consumers, and affirmed the choices/changes I am making in my life. I will write more about this later. But right now I have to keep packing and cleaning and reading and thinking.