Monday is the day...the day we get our new digs. It's my birthday too. So this year I get the best birthday present ever. We are so excited, nervous, stressed, and a million other emotions all balled up together. We went and showed our oldest daughter the RV last week and just sat in there...soaking it all in. We are really going to do this.
As we sort through our things we are finding it easier and easier to leave stuff behind. I've loved experiencing the process of letting go. When I start with 100 things, I think I need to keep at least 50 of them. When I look at the 50 I see another 25 I can get rid of. Then I look at that 25 and realize that I was holding onto an extra 15 that I didn't need. So then I am down to 10 and it might get even less than that after a bit. And it's really cool to see my children go through the same process. I love that I am teaching them that all this stuff isn't important. It will be interesting when they are grown up to see if they accumulate tons of stuff because of this process or if they realize they like living with less.
I'm amazed at the stuff I have felt like I needed to keep all these years and I have moved it, stored it and moved it again. How much money has keeping all this stuff cost me...never mind the effort to move it and find a place to store it. Here are some items I have felt the need to keep all these years:
1. A box of stuffed animals from my childhood. Including a giant bear with a missing eye. I couldn't even find the box to take a picture of it. That's how buried and apparently important to me it is. I can remember that bear vividly and even remember his name. Which sounds like no big deal until you hear his name. It's Christopher Thomas Robert Alexander Roger Ferguson Porter. Somehow I can remember the ridiculously long name of my childhood toy, but not of the person I just met yesterday. But the fact is, the bear is burned into my memory. I don't need the actual bear. If I find it I will take a picture of it. If not, I have my memories.
2. A bin of old baby clothes. Most of which I barely remember which child wore them. I went through it and found 3 items that my grandmother made and I wanted to keep for future grandchildren pictures. Seriously though, why was I keeping a bunch of stained old clothes? Like my children are going to be all...oh I wore that and it's all stained, I would love my child to wear that. Um...no.
3. While we are on the subject of clothes...let's view this lovely box. Can you read what it says....Jen's smaller clothes. So I have been hauling around a box of clothes that are too small for me in the hopes I will lost weight. Because that is exactly what I want as a reward for the hard work of losing a million pounds. A box of old out of date clothing.
4. I've had this big bin of keepsakes for the last 25 years. It's got stuff like an old jewelry box, a wooden doll that has no meaning to me, a sea shell my grandma bought for me. Stuff that really doesn't mean anything and keeping it doesn't make me a better person. This box was full and heavy. I sorted out what I want to take pictures of or scan. I threw away most of the stuff and here is what is left. I would have thrown this stuff away too, but my estate sale person said to save everything. Okay...I'm sure someone wants that sea shell and that shelf I made in 7th grade woodworking class has got to be worth at least a couple hundred dollars. I mean....the great Jennifer Smith made it...maybe I should sign it. :P
5. I have a shelf full of first aid supplies. You can't see half of what I have in there. So if you are over to my house and your leg gets sawed off...I have the supplies needed. Of course it's probably 20 years old because no one ever had their leg sawed off at my house before....but I'm ready!!
6. And this is the best...a trampoline that hasn't been used in who knows how long. It's currently storage for the lounge chairs we barely use...and the hose we don't use to keep it out of the way when my husband mows the lawn. Such an efficient storage plan.
The best part of all this is helping each other out. I was going to save a hat my son wore and my daughter looked at me and said...it's a denim hat...what do you need it for. She was right. My husband wanted to save our ladder...I said, we live in an RV...what do we need a ladder for...his response was, what if we wanted to hang something up in the tree? He got the stink eye from me. It really is easier to get rid of other people's stuff than your own.
No comments:
Post a Comment