As I look around my nearly-empty room, it is evident that I am about to begin a new stage of my life. I have not slept so many consecutive nights on the floor since I prepared to go to college by getting rid of everything I could not take, minus a couple boxes of things I was able to pawn off on my dad. Five years later, with the accrual of many more possessions, I have had to yet again get rid of anything I can, so that I do not put too many things that I will not need in storage. Since I do not know what the upcoming years will hold for me, I want to be as mobile as possible. And, since I do not have a “childhood bedroom” (both my parents rent), I had either get rid of a lot of stuff, or spend money on a large storage unit. The choice was pretty obvious, though it has made me regret purchasing some of the things I have purchased over the last 5 years.
The breadmaker I got for $30 a few years ago, used consistently for a year, and then largely ignored until a few weeks ago when I dug up all my bread-making ingredients to make another loaf of delicious bread, will probably have to go. I cant very well put a bunch of semi-perishables in storage, and without all the raw materials, starting to make bread again will be an investment I might not want to make. The same goes for the jars and bottles I bought for $30 to make and store kombucha. And what about my gigantic cast iron pan that is simply perfect for making latkes or fried chicken? As you can see, the side of me that loves baking, brewing, and cooking (and the appliances that make it easier) is full of sadness as I try to pair down my collection of cooking tool. Still, I wonder how many of these things I will actually miss.
Hopefully I will pack everything I need, and get rid of everything I won’t need in the future. So many people, myself included, own so many extraneous things that I think it is useful and necessary to do this kind of culling, not only to remind ourselves that so many of the things we spend money on are not that important, but to look through the stuff we have and remember the things that are actually important to us. I like my breadmaker, but it’s nowhere near as important as the childhood book I hope to someday read to my unborn children. Well, to be honest I don’t need either, but there’s something about having possessions that is very alluring.
You did not use that breadmaker for a whole year. Maybe half. Maybe.
There are so few physical possessions that we actually need and so many that we hold on to. It does seem to me that possessions often own us. Probably cultivating a deep inner security as well as living a vibrant and loving life will reduce the clinging to physical possessions, so I better improve my living skills!:-)
What things are you missing?
Katie, I’ll give you that I only used it regularly for 3 months, but I definitely used it over the course of a year a couple times a month!
I don’t miss anything that’s packed away! Maybe my desktop a little bit, but the iIpad suffices. That’s the irony about having all these things packed away – I don’t need them at all.