Living Small (Step 2)…
Our rightsizing adventures continue… Closets fully behind us and now inspired, we moved to the attic: home of Christmas ornaments and things long forgotten. Do I still really need those tax returns from 1962? Not all things can be given or thrown away. Both shredding and burning are extremely time consuming… but sometimes necessary. But you do learn how to be selective. Not every page contains sensitive information.
Then there were the children’s things. What should be kept (at least a bit longer) and what do they need to come pickup. We’re still waiting! But they HAVE been warned. I think this is called sharing the pain.
Of course there are always those odd pieces of furniture that need to be dealt with. We’re not really using them… but they might come in handy down the line… or the kids may want them… We do have a way of coming up with what I’ll call in a tongue-and-check way: inanimate transference attachment.
Now on a house-cleaning tear, we are deciding all those nick-nacks… may not be real keep sakes! Long ago tired of yard sales… Joni spends time on Trussville Trading (Facebook) giving away or selling … I’m saying put it on the curb with a sign “FREE STUFF!”
Moving to the workshop, I have a bit of a tougher struggle. Broken chairs, broken tools, scraps of lumber… best suited for kindling… unattended projects. Time to fish-or-cut-bait! If you don’t see this project being attacked in the next 90 days, get rid of it. My tools are not included in the downsizing… period!
Back in the house… my wife asks Dave what about those books? Books I’ll have to admit are sacred to me. I really struggle here. Ok, all those technology books… I’ll let go of those… maybe find a soul that might be interested… no charge… just hate to recycle as waste paper. Non-technical books, non-fiction and fiction alike… out of over a thousand volumes… I think there were less than a dozen I was willing to part with… Joni thinks, I’m sick. You want it… I’ll buy you a copy but you can’t have the copy that I invested a part of my life in reading! Oh such attachment.
Living small is no small task… But, lightening the load of possession and attachment is… well… invigorating. A chance to look back and a chance to evaluate. A chance to look forward and begin anew with new or at least refreshed insight into what may be left.
To all of my downsizing clients… my hat is off to you and best wishes for a renewed journey.
May the market be with you.
