Moving Day
Ok – I promise – only one more ARTicle about moving and then I’ll move on. Moving day finally came last week and everything had to get put in boxes so the truck could take it all away. Easier said than done!
We lived in a small apartment in Brooklyn for only 2 years, but you’d have thought it was much longer. The big stuff was easy – large handfuls of clothes and books go into big boxes, sealed up with that tape that is nearly impossible to get started off the roll and to cut. The desk, the vacuum cleaner, pillows and bedding, towels – a piece of cake. But where did all that stuff in the drawers come from?
When we moved in we made a conscious decision that we wouldn’t hoard – right! But then there were matches from favorite restaurants, cards from people we met, spare change, quickly written notes, paper clips, hair bands, erasers, spare keys, bills, notices, prospectuses, magazines, unopened mail, mail that might be useful, bar-coded cards from the super market loyalty programs, pens, a spare dog leash, addresses and phone numbers…..it’s endless. And it seems the desire to save irrelevant and never-to-be-used stuff is stronger than the resolution not to. Human nature has some weird habits.
My hands shook as I tried to just toss it all out…..and that led to handling each item and ruminating about it, which led to finally putting it into a small box marked “Miscellaneous”. That seemed like a good compromise – NOT! When the boxes arrived here in Las Vegas yesterday, that small box of miscellaneous items joined several (read: dozens) others all marked the same, some of which have made it unopened through multiple past moves. Yikes – there’s no place for all this stuff (read: junk)! What if I just threw all the unopened boxes out? I mean…if I haven’t touched or used any of that stuff in years, how important or useful could it be?
What is it that makes us want to save old stuff? And does all that old stuff constrict our ability to learn and grow from the future (which will be filled in part with more stuff)? It’s only May, but I’m going to make a new New Year’s resolution not to hoard the small stuff anymore. And to give my soul a chance to soar unfettered by all the minutia that is meaningless. Wish me luck!
My message this week is about continually trying to be the person I really want to be:
“I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.” Michel de Montaigne
Do you care about yourself? Do you care how you look, about the kind of overall presentation you make, how others see you, or what others remember about you later – these are all how or what you are to others. Do you also care about the kind of person you are, whether you choose right or wrong, giving of yourself even when the kindness is not returned, and living a righteous and humble life – these are what you see in and think about yourself. While it does matter what others think, it’s more important that you live up to your own goals and expectations because that determines what you are to yourself. So make sure you do the things that make you proud of who and what you are today!
Stay well!
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