They relocate to heal.
Relocation is not always about chasing greener pastures or running from economic hardship.
Sometimes, it’s about healing.
It’s about starting afresh in a place where you’re not constantly bumping into memories you’re trying to forget.
It’s about escaping the places that have hurt you the most — even if those places carry the prettiest pictures and the most familiar faces.
Let me tell you a story.
A few months ago, I attended a high-end bridal shower.
We looked elegant — perfect, even.
The kind of event where every detail speaks in gold, and the pictures make it to Instagram before the speeches are done.
But then the microphone landed in the hands of someone.
Not necessarily the wrong woman,
but someone who didn’t use her words with wisdom.
She had 15 minutes to speak.
She took that time to publicly point out another woman in her mid-30s:
“Next, we want to come to your bridal shower.
Why has it taken you so long?
What’s the problem?
Come and see me after.”
She said this, holding a microphone.
Facing a room of 150 women.
A room full of stories she didn’t know.
I knew the woman she pointed at.
Not just her name — I knew her story.
The heartbreak she’s still healing from.
The quiet prayers she still prays.
The strength it took for her to even show up that day.
Moments later, I looked back at her seat.
Empty.
I quietly stepped out of the event.
Checked the bathrooms — no one.
Walked to the parking lot.
There she was, sobbing in her car, hands on the wheel, ready to leave.
I stopped her.
She stepped out, and I hugged her.
Then I looked her in the eyes and simply said:
“I am so sorry. On behalf of people who speak into other people’s stories without understanding the chapters they’ve lived.”
That hug said everything that words could not.
So no, relocation isn’t always about money.
Sometimes it’s about peace.
Sometimes it’s about breathing without being reminded.
Sometimes it’s about putting oceans between you and pain.
Because healing is sacred.
And not everyone deserves access to your process.
To those who’ve had to move away to find themselves again —
I see you.
You’re not weak. You’re not selfish.
You’re doing what healing asks of you.
Some relocate from churches.
Some from neighborhoods.
Some from relationships that were never safe.
And to the rest of us?
Let’s remember: Your microphone should never become someone else’s trauma.