Stuff

This posting is about stuff. The things with which we surround ourselves. Lamps and tables have function and are needed. Some of those items are special in design or sentiment. We keep them for decades as special things.  Still they are stuff. Same for dining room sets, bedroom furniture, living room settings.

But wait! There is the kitchen and its many drawers and cabinets. What stuff lurks in those dark places? What items are hiding in the darkest and farthest reaches?  You know, the things you haven’t used in 14 years but still can’t part with. Your mom gave you that, or you found it at a garage sale when you were 7 months pregnant and somehow the ‘thing’ is a keepsake – but forever?  Evidently.

Drawers in the bedroom.  I wore a pair of briefs yesterday that had lost its elasticity. They were so loose-fitting that later in the day they slipped down toward the leg holes of my street shorts!  Quick thinking saved me from a certain blush attack! They went out in the trash this morning!

But what of the twenty or thirty shirts that never seem to change position either in the closet or in the bureau drawers? When will we admit defeat and toss them? Or at least relegate them to rag service? Don’t forget there are plenty of resale shops and charities that need and want your cast offs. If they are worn enough they sell them to rag recycle-rs. Best if they can be recycled as new apparel for a needy family.

OK, so we've covered the clothing angle, and the 100’s of kitchen gadgets unused for years, what’s next? The d r e a d e d garage inspection.  You knew it was coming. What is in that stack of boxes in the rear corner? You know, the one with an empty gas can perched on top?  Are those books?  Tax records? Maybe old family photo albums? Dare I look? If they are as useless as I suspect they are to my life, what will I do with them?  Donate, trash, or pawn off on other family members?

The garage is quite the burial site for many items. Shelves. You were so proud to build those shelves, or purchase slap-together shelving units. Once erected they allowed you to move the unused from the floor to the shelving units. They look so great there! Up and out of the way, until years later you realize none of it has moved an inch. Yep! They are useless to you. And they need to be released from your address.

But wait. We are not done. There are still two areas needing to be explored. One is high up in the attic. The rarest of treasures await us there. Usually the bridal gown sealed in a special box with proud markings announcing the contents! But also there are boxes of photos, old text books that consumed our study time in high school, college and grad school. We spent so much time with them we can not possibly dump them now, could we?

Of course we can. And must!

Wait, there is a suspicious pile of debris over in the corner? What sneaks there? Aha! Of course! Here is all the athletic equipment and costumes through the ages of each kid, and some of the aspiring parent – cross country skies, boots, too;  baseball bats and mitts numbering over a dozen. Golf clubs too small for a tiny adult; soccer gear, tennis rackets, and of course the croquet set missing mallet heads and balls.

Why do we hang on to this stuff?

But wait, for many of us there is a basement yet to be cleaned out. And that is just too gruesome to go into here.

Suffice it to say that we acquire stuff and hang on to it.  Just in case we might need it, you know. And as we graduate through the decades to increasingly sedentary life styles and inabilities (!), we remain faithful keepers of the goods.

I think this behavior has a lot to do with reluctance to make decisions in the first place, and in the second instant, it has much to do with the discomfort with knowing we are changing and are unready for such evolution. It is a psychological thing. The stuff is our anchor to the past and to the present.

The future beckons. Can we pass through the portal of discarded trash to peek at the fresh possibilities of tomorrow?

Moving between homes gives us an opportunity to make new decisions.  The exercise is valuable to our development. As well these decisions remove obstacles to moving forward.

And that’s a good thing. Moving forward. Leaving stuff behind that clutters our spaces and our minds.

Good riddance!

August 7, 2013