Pay Attention to Your Inner Stirrings

I live in a duplex and have a roommate. We’ve lived together for the past 3 years. She is also from Indiana and we share a fun Midwestern bond. Living with each other has been good for both of us but a few weeks ago, I began to feel stirrings that something different was around the corner. At times in the past I had questioned whether I wanted to continue living where I was before, but this stirring was a different—it was more solid.

I came home from a camping weekend and I got the sense that I wouldn’t be living in my house much longer. This intuition caused me to begin to more seriously ask questions like, "What do I really want? What would be perfect for me?" This was a bit scary for me to ask. I felt like I was rocking the boat when I didn’t necessarily need to be. My current living situation is fine. Nevertheless, I still had this nagging sense that I needed to make a change.

I am a spiritual person and prayer often brings me peace and more clarity. So, I prayed. I also asked others to talk with me and pray with me. More clarity emerged for me as I realized that I had a desire for more independent living space for myself. Simultaneously, I also had the desire to live close to my friends. Finally, I hoped to not have to pay a lot in rent. Following those pieces, I decided to investigate living alone. I found some places but nothing was just right.

Then, I went to pick blueberries with my roommate and another friend. We talked about living arrangements a lot that day. And, near the end of the day, our friend mentioned to us that the bottom floor of the house where she currently lives is for rent. Furthermore, below that level, there is a basement apartment available. We started to get excited about this possibility of them living above me and me living in the basement apartment. This could solve several dilemmas at once!

Needless to say, we looked at it the next day and we all felt good about it. So, in September, I am moving to live below 3 of my friends in my semi-autonomous apartment! I have community but still have space. If I hadn’t listened to my restless stirrings, I would never have instigated the conversations that led to us finding this wonderful option.

The moral of the story is: Pay attention to your inner stirrings. They may be telling you something important.