Moving is one of the most profound human experiences, a transformative journey that challenges us to embrace the unknown. It is a change of space, of place, of life. This outlook is echoed by French writer Georges Perec, who reflected on the many facets of space, including the experience of moving in his essay Species of Spaces.

“The art of living is the art of leaving, to a certain extent. You must always move on.”

Perec notes that moving is both exciting and unsettling. It involves leaving behind familiar surroundings and entering new ones. The anticipation of discovering a new environment is accompanied by the fear of losing the comfort and safety of the old one. We face a sense of displacement and anxiety as we move, but it is also a time for reflection and introspection.

During the moving process, we sort through our memories and decide what to keep and discard. Perec recognizes that moving is also physically and emotionally exhausting. The act of packing and unpacking boxes becomes a kind of ritual that is both overwhelming and metamorphic.

The act of moving challenges us to confront the memories and experiences of the places we have lived. We must ask ourselves what home truly is, and what it means to us.

“I would like there to exist spaces that are stable, unmoving, intangible, untouched and almost untouchable, unchanging, deep-rooted; places that might be points of reference, of departure, of origin:

My birthpalce, the cradle of my family, the house where I may have been born, the tree I may have seen grow (that my father may have planted the day I was born), the attic of my childhood filled with intact memories . . .

Such places don’t exist, and it’s because they don’t exist that space becomes a question, ceases to be self-evident, ceases to be incorporated, ceases to be appropriated. Space is a doubt: I constantly have to mark it, to designate it. It is never mine, never given to me, I have to conquer it.

My spaces are fragile: time is going to wear them away, to destroy them. Nothing will any longer resemble what was, my memories will betray me, oblivion will infiltrate my memory, I shall look at a few old yellowing photographs with broken edges without recognising them.

Space melts like sand running through one’s fingers. Time bears it away and leaves me only shapeless shreds:

To write: to try meticulously to retain something, to cause something to survive; to wrest a few precise scraps from the void as it grows, to leave somewhere a furrow, a trace, a mark or a few signs.

Paris 1973-1974”

Georges Perec, Species of Spaces and Other Pieces

By the way, I thought you might like this:

Discover the awe-inspiring story of the French writer Georges Perec who accomplished the seemingly impossible challenge of writing an entire novel without using the letter “E”.

The Art of Writing an Entire Novel Without The Letter E | Georges Perec | Art of Saudade

As we move from one space to another, we are confronted with the echoes of our past and the endless possibilities of our future. Georges Perec’s insights on moving offer a unique perspective on this journey. Through his creative writing, he reminds us that moving is not just about changing our physical location, but also about exploring new ways of thinking, seeing, and being.

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