It all began when my wife and I decided to set monthly goals each
year, one of which was to get rid of at least one item every day of the
month. The reason?
I have too much shit. Don’t
we all? I mean, I’m not a hoarder or
anything, and I am organized enough that some people might think I have a
slight case of OCD. I collect comics,
coins, books, steins, pint glasses, vinyl records and more. Besides our own furniture I have four
generations of stuff from my family; my grandfather’s WWII medals, my
grandmother’s silverware and china, all the family pics; you get my point. The list goes on and on...
Most of the STUFF sits around to collect dust or is stored away in
drawers and boxes. Very little of it is
utilized in any meaningful way. So when
I started to get rid of a lot of things a weight felt lifted.
Moving sales, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, EBay, Goodwill;
there is no shortage of places to sell or give away your possessions. Looking back, I cannot think of one item that
I regret giving away or selling. In
fact, I continue to get rid of more and more, especially since we will be
traveling with no permanent home.
Yes, many of my possessions hold sentimental value; a book from my
mother, my dad’s old Yankee’s hat, my first report card, a card made by my
daughter. But how many of those things do I really need? The time I have spent throughout my life
rummaging through generations of items that were not even mine! How many minutes or hours, even days have
accumulated, time which I could have spent pursuing other interests?
I dare not do the same to my children. Sure, I will keep a few things of deep sentimental
value and for items that are useful, but I cannot even begin to express how
liberating this ‘purge’ has been for the mind and soul. Even deleting
the endless emails that I have stored away in folders and subfolders has been
cathartic! My digital footprint may be
larger than my actual footprint. Some of
the emails and documents have not been viewed in years!
George Carlin nailed it perfectly:
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