Downsizing can provide liberation from the roles of being a carer of and provider for others says psychologist Olive Travers

In Flann O'Brien's "mollycule" theory he postulates on the melding of man and bicycle through the pounding of the wheels on bumpy Irish roads. Over time the exchange of molecules from man to bicycle results in a man who is half bicycle and half man, with hilarious consequences.

Consider therefore that in trading down from your big house to an apartment, in the letting go of the home and possessions you have exchanged molecules with for many years, you are literally leaving behind part of yourself. The wrench that this involves can result in a peculiar criss-cross dance witnessed between couples in which possessions placed in the "to go"side by one are retrieved to the "to stay" side by the other and vice versa, often with less than hilarious consequences.

It would take King Solomon himself to resolve such emotionally charged disputes, so best to have thought through the practical and emotional consequences of your move in advance.

For many of you this major life decision will coincide with what psychoanalyst Erik Erickson calls the "late adulthood stage", the last of the eight life stages we have to successfully negotiate to achieve wisdom and fulfillment with a deep sense that our lives have meaning. Your children may have left home, relationships and goals changed and you may be struggling to find new meanings and purposes.

Downsizing can provide liberation from the roles of being a carer of and provider for others, and the tyranny of unending housework and gardening.

You can't control growing old but you can choose how you are going to live. Any transition involves what can be a difficult process of change though, and remember we bring ourselves with us wherever we go.

You need to think therefore about what a drastically reduced living space will involve not just for you but also your relationships, and your sense of your connectedness with others. The post-retirement dilemma of having another adult under your feet all day can be exacerbated in a radically reduced living space. Many marriages owe their survival to men having a garden shed to retreat to, and an apartment balcony will be a poor substitute.

Are you prepared to let go of the buffer your driveway and high garden hedge provides between your public and private personas, and to let the two merge, in the "in your face" proximity of your neighbors in apartment living?

You may have to negotiate new ways of connecting with others in an age where avoiding eye contact has become an art form.

Indeed you too may want to avoid eye contact with your neighbours after what feels like your voyeuristic exposure to the intimacies of their private lives, from above, below and each side of you. If you can hear them, remember that means they can also hear you!

You may also involuntarily increase your knowledge of different music genres, and while you may have tolerated your own darling's ear blasting punk, you may find it more difficult when it is a stranger's acid house collection assaulting your ears.

However if you are realistic and able to manage the transition with a sense of humour and a capacity to go with the flow you will reap the advantages. Downsizing has the potential to enable you to remodel attitudes and beliefs, to review relationships and to learn more about yourself and your needs.

Human ageing has been transformed in this 21st century and instead of melding with the hoover and the hoe you can now look forward to exchanging molecules with your tango dancing partner.