Free Me From the Stuff!!

We’re in the process of purging, getting rid of stuff we don’t need anymore, trying to find homes for it all.  And here’s what I've learned:  I just might rather burn the house down and start over.

Seriously.  There just isn’t a lot here that can’t be replaced.  Photo albums and home videos . . . a handful of momento items . . . but not much else, really.  I have scores of things in storage that bring back beautiful memories when I get them out and look at them – but if I never looked at them again and never had those specific memories again, my life would continue and I would still thrive.

That sounds kind of cold, probably.  But it’s reality.  Life goes forward.  The moments and events that changed me for the better have already left their mark – I don’t need a physical memento to reactivate the effect. 

To be honest, it would absolutely be a kick -- it would be unbelievably FREEING!! -- to lose all this stuff, get the insurance money, and be able to start over, purchasing only the stuff that now, when I’m older and wiser, I really see as important.  Stuff that I REALLY need.  Stuff that I REALLY will use.  Stuff that I REALLY think is beautiful.  Stuff that REALLY has meaning to me.  I would be less concerned about quantity and more concerned about quality.

I would so never again allow myself to be a stuff collector.  I would never again buy something at a garage sale or on a sale rack with the idea that someday I may find a use for it and then, by golly!  I’ll have saved all this money and hassle!  The stuff is a weight, a burden.  Right now, the idea of living in a small apartment with nothing but the basics of life sounds SOOO inviting.

I may be wrong.  Maybe I'd get into my small apartment, need a box to ship something in and long for my stash of empty boxes in the basement.  Maybe.  But I kind of doubt it.