We got and accepted an offer on our house this week. Now we are undergoing the painful process of trying to decide what to do with all our “stuff”. A part of me wants to get rid of everything except what we take in our van down to Mexico. I think it would be freeing in many ways to rid myself of all this materialism. But the truth is materialism has its grasp on me. I find it very difficult to let go.
It’s not that I have all this clutter around my house. We have moved several times and I have gotten rid of things during each move. Plus we have already been doing this process for months, but what about dishes, pots, and pans? Do I store these things? Or am I suppose to let go of everything? What about couches, beds, desks? Another thing I find hard is getting rid of books. I love to read and learn. We have so many great books. Yet the reality is what can we really take with us? What good is a book packed up in a box?
It’s easier to let go if I know someone would need it or want it, but some things have no value to anyone else, but me. They really need to be thrown away. I think that’s the most painful part, throwing away things that I treasured that are really worthless. You can only keep so much sentimental junk.
Not knowing what the future holds makes these decisions even more difficult. We have no clue what will happen in two years. If we don’t come back right away it seems silly to store things for years and years, but if we do come back it seems silly to have to buy everything again. Now we have five weeks to decide whether we hang on or let go of our “stuff”.
I know what you mean. One one hand there is just something so freeing about the idea of getting rid of all the junk. So why is that junk so important to us that we can't do it?
ReplyDeleteI wish I had an excuse like you do. Go for it! If it hasn't meant anything to you in years it probably never will. :)