Too Much
Again, this year, we are unable to find our winter gear: gloves, hats, gators and scarfs, our system of throwing all the winter stuff into the hall chest worked for 15 years, what happened?
It started when we decided to cull, purge and toss out, all the stuff that had accumulated and had not been used for over a year. That process turned everything upside down, but, admittedly, it felt great to create room to breathe. The downside, we are still discovering, is letting go of habits carefully crafted over that lengthy period.
Having embarked on the journey of giving away, donating, and throwing out, many things we set aside because we couldn’t decide, or bear to discard, has sat around for yet another year reminding me and my wife that emotional attachments are not good reasons but typically the sole reason for keeping said items.
We discovered that the value of many things is unrelated to retail or resale. These things have an imaginary meaning, more akin to a memory prompt and not intrinsic quality. Coming to this realization has helped foster an emotional detachment and the act of discarding less convulsive.
Tackling the barn is proving a different story. In the barn there are tools — tools are not subject to the length of time/decreased usefulness rule. I may not use the jumper cables in a year equated to a diminished value, but when I need them, they gain a highly enhanced value and this holds true for many other tools. Likewise, many items fall outside a disuse/discard rule such as books, art supplies, utensils — we never will never use 30 spoons at one sitting but we have them none the less, and when we host a family event, we have enough. Where and how do we draw the line?
In a world gone upside down, I am grateful to ponder a life’s challenge with little to no global implications.
