Two weekends in particular each year, we can't help but be reminded that the seasons are changing...whether we live in a place that has drastic variations of weather, or not. For some folks, the re-setting of the clocks each spring and fall, traditionally becomes a twice-a-year signal to clean out the winter cobwebs, or put away the summer fun. Our own mild seasonal changes promote a similar cleaning and sorting effort on my part, although I prefer to tackle one of my most unpleasant tasks in stages. So I break it down into quarters, and the last few weeks of the year I dedicate to removing all the unnecessary paper from the house. Which means, decluttering the desk and our family favorite catch-all spot, the top of the dining room table. It seems that we always have an assortment of never-ending piles of mail, magazines, catalogs, books, and leftover travel brochures. I don't mind getting the mail each day, however, I'm never really all that thrilled with the junk mail that eventually ends up finding it's way into the garbage. Don't you think we should just have a trash can next to the mailbox, so that all the extra paper would never even make it through the front door? This time of the year it gets out of hand with all the holiday catalogs and election flyers that just about take over our mailbox.
As a child, I would have probably considered myself a pack rat, never bothering to throw much of anything away. I remember my half of the closet was always so full of all the stuff I had a accumulated in my 18 years at home. I was never very fond of organizing my things then and nothing much has really changed. Now I am an adult, and I find it even more difficult to throw some things away. Me thinks my clothes closet overfloweth....but that's another story. Over the years, as we downsized, I quickly realized our smaller living space would not allow for the collection of many things. If you think about it, this is truly a blessing in disguise. Less room for stuff...less stuff to own...works for me. It is probably also true, that with as much moving as we did over the years, we kept our junk to a minimum, because we honestly couldn't be bothered to move it each time. The rule of thumb was so simple--if we hadn't used an item since our last move, then did we really "need" it anymore? When in doubt, throw it out!
I sometimes ask myself a very basic question--do we actually own our stuff, or does it own us? I tend to look at it from an economical standpoint...why live in a four bedroom house, if there are just two of you? To heat, cool, clean and do basic maintenance on a large home does not sound like a way I'd want to spend my golden years. Do we hold on to these large houses in order to hold on to all our belongings? If we didn't have that stuff, would we really need all that space? A very funny comedian, George Carlin, had a great routine about "stuff" and how we accumulate it, which rang very true to me many years ago when I first heard it. The YouTube version is very funny, but reading it also brings home the point I am trying to make as well.
http://www.writers-free-reference.com/funny/story085.htm
Which brings me to where we are today...we haven't moved in almost 4 years, so the additional stuff we have accumulated, feels a bit over whelming at times. Although I tend to be a procrastinator, nothing thrills me more than to take an industrial size grey garbage bag, fill it to overflowing, and then just throw it into the dumpster. I am so pleased that we no longer have an attic or a basement, and our very limited storage space outside our home is a small locker the size of a washing machine. How do we as human beings create and/or accumulate so much stuff? It was absolutely awful when we lived in a larger home...there was so much extra room, we somehow always felt obligated to fill it up. Another great reason for a couple living without children, to keep their living space to a minimum.
This morning, it was my goal to sort through a few piles of discarded junk and throw away some old catalogs and magazines. The only way for me to actually accomplish this self-imposed task, is to not allow myself to do anything else, until the job is completed. Like I mentioned before, I have perfected the art of procrastination...and that pile will just sit there until I can no longer stand to look at it. Either that, or I am unable to find something in particular I am searching for, and I'm so disgusted with myself for not being more organized. My memory fails me more often than not....however, as luck would have it today, I finally found the item I had misplaced. The good news, with a smaller living space, it is easier to locate things that go astray...or maybe it just feels that way.
My mother made mention years ago, that when she is gone, she didn't want to burden her grown children with figuring out what to do with years worth of her accumulated belongings. I thought about that simple statement, took it to heart and then followed in her footsteps. It is sad enough to say goodbye to our loved ones...the idea of taking on the additional responsibility of sorting through and disposing of a lifetime of treasures, only adds to the grieving process, making it all the more difficult.
I consider the future of my adult children every time I clean up a pile or fill a trash bag, and sometimes I set a little something aside that may make a difference to them when I am no longer here. I have a small wooden chest full of childhood and family memories, from the time when I was little, until the present day. It's full of pictures, drawings, videos and scrapbooks...it's a collection representative of my life as well as of those who have shared it with me. Those are the precious memories I will leave for my children to do with as they please. The other things we use everyday, mean very little to me and are easily discarded when no longer necessary.
So a few times a year, as the temperatures turn from warm to cold, and then once again back to warm...take stock of all that you own. How each item compliments your daily life or perhaps distracts from it. When we are no longer here, will we be remembered by the many long forgotten treasures that were at one time stored in our attics.....or, by the few hand picked sentimental items that hold so many wonderful family memories, that we've passed down for future generations to come?
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