For Rent Part 1
When we moved from Atlanta to Tennessee a several years ago, we needed to rent a house while we renovated our dream home. Scott tried his hardest to get me to rent a RV and park it on the property of our dream house. Seriously? We had an almost 2 year old and a very pregnant, emotional, hormonal woman. Do you see the problem there? We had some issues finding a rental home in the first place, and after searching and searching (side bar: it's hard to find a rental home in a small town because it's always by owner or local agency rather than on zillow), we finally found a tiny 2 bedroom town home. I. Mean. Tiny. We were in need so tiny it was. We had to rent it from some local-jocal (said it the most southern hick accent I could muster) who was also known as the local mob boss (a detail we did not know about until after the papers were signed). Cue the Godfather. That rental lasted all of two months when we woke to gunshots fired at our doorstep in the middle of the night. It was a case of domestic violence and when it was clear that the assailant worked for the Godfather and the Godfather had no plans of punishment, we moved AGAIN. A sweet college friend of mine rented her house in the historic downtown just a minute away from our dream home. Perfect situation. But one thing was wrong, I viewed our rental time as temporary. And honestly, I think most people who rent treat that time as temporary. The house was absolutely charming. It was build the 20's with a swing on the front porch. It had great potential to be a home for us. But we moved in and rather than thinking how we would be there almost a year, we lived as if we were visiting for the week. Let me just say that I think that perspective made the waiting process more difficult. It made the wait feel like eternity because we never settled down. After we moved out, a dear friend moved into that house to rent. And you know what? She decorated it like she was there to stay. It looked so beautiful. The wall colors (which we weren't allowed to paint) weren't my taste (and probably not her's either) but she embraced it and dwelled in it.
When we moved to Atlanta not too long ago, I decided to do the same thing as my friend. I knew we would live in this rental for a year maybe longer, but I chose to not view it as temporary. I chose not view it as a holding card for my next house. I chose to dwell. To remain. To be all in.
So as I begin this series called For Rent, I want to challenge you to change the way you view your rental or your current home for that matter. Maybe you are dreaming about what's next to the point where you can't enjoy what's now. Here's what we are going to talk about in this series called For Rent:
How to be you in your rental space
How to be creative with restrictions
That leaves me with you. Are you someone that dwells or someone that waits for what's next?