Moving On and Letting Go

After living in the same house for 25 years we accumulated a lot of possessions. Not as many as some people I know, but a houseful. I see now that when some people say that they want to stay in their present home forever, what they are really saying is they can’t face getting rid of things they own and loved.

Every item requires a decision. Keep or let go? Sell or gift? Offer to a friend or family? Is it beautiful? Does owning this item increase the quality of my life? Even if this object has nice memories, can I be comfortable and happy without it?

In the end I was a little surprised what we wound up keeping. We stored most of our art collection, about half the furniture, jeans in a rainbow of colors, my mother’s wedding dress, and a whole lot of flower vases. Dozens of vases. I sometimes teach flower arranging and I really could not part with more than one or two of them.

I started the process of letting go of stuff more than a year ago and sold things online right until that last week. I  was not looking for high prices. I was just trying to find a good home for beloved possessions rather than sending them all to a second-hand store. But in last few weeks I admit I was dropping carloads of stuff at Goodwill every week.

In the past, I often wondered how a fabulous item wound up in a second-hand store. Well, now I know. Someone was moving and one day they-or their heirs-just packed up everything- the good along with the bad.

Ultimately I found the process exhausting but very interesting. There is a zen quality to the process with many thoughts about the nature and meaning of attachment and detachment. Some objects pass into and out of your life really quickly. Others stay around for decades for one reason or another. I think I just stored a sweatshirt dating from 1964 yet some nice new items come and go in days.

But I am really glad this experience is over for now and look forward to spending this next phase of my life living out of a suitcase.