Not the outcome we were hoping for

Wednesday morning, I sat down to draft my blog. I was writing out the working title: "EMMALIKESWRITING: On Pa-" when I heard Ben yell "no!" from upstairs. The email just came in. We didn't get the place we had applied to, and were hoping to move to soon. I crossed out the working title and started a new one: "EMMALIKESWRITING: On disappointment."

We were both disappointed. This had been the first place we had looked at that we 1. both loved and 2. could tell was within our reach. We're finally close enough to our move-out day to be taken seriously. So it hurt to find out a place we could picture ourselves in was going to someone else instead.

But in cases like this, there really isn't time to mourn. The fact of the matter is we need to find a place to live that's safe, affordable and fits our needs. We need it sometime in the next month. And it's clear that plenty of people are in the same boat.

So there's no time to waste. We might sulk a little here and there. I'll delete the pictures I took of the place off my phone, and we'll move in to the next duplex or apartment where we can picture ourselves. Within five minutes of getting that email, we were both looking at other listings and reaching out about viewings.

The world moves on and you have to move on with it.

I know this is a petty, trivial thing to complain about on my blog. But despite the title, disappointment wasn't the only reason I wanted to write about this.

I'm often amazed by people's ability to keep going. Whether it's a minor setback or a huge life change, people are resilient. We pick up the pieces and we keep going.

So this isn't the worst thing that's ever happened to us and I'm sure it won't always be smooth sailing from here on out, but we'll keep going. And when we do find a place, we'll make it feel like home and (I can only hope) it'll all be worth it.