Saturday, September 12, 2009

Garage Packages

The garage is in its essentially "organized" state pending a further going through by The Ravishing Mrs. TB. I finished it up this morning, as with the rain throughout the day there was not much else to do outside. Pending a little shifting, the Conveyance should be able to fit in there.

It was one of those moments, the kind that seem to come repeatedly when one is packing or unpacking: where did all this stuff come from? Why did we save it? What does it do?

Blame it on my father if you will: he has become increasingly minimalist as he goes, not so much for things which are useful but for things which aren't. I'm trying to become more so myself, always asking (or trying to ask) "Do we need this? What will it do for us?"

Having to unpack items hauled halfway across the country is one thing. Having to look at the value of everything you have (when it was new, of course) and indexed for inflation after trying to crawl your way out from under a business failure and a short sale.

Try to make better decisions, of course. Try to encourage your children to do it to: No, we don't need everything we see. Yes, saving money is not nearly as fun but is far more valuable.

The older I get, the more I tend to value money, not for the money, but for the freedom and independence it represents.

2 comments:

  1. After dealing with no only our "stuff" but Roeanne's mother's "stuff" after moving to Penngrove, I can appreciate what you're saying here. Things we can appreciate as we get older - we spend less because we buy less, have less to carry from house to house, and we have the time to examine what we bought in the past and realize that most of it we didn't really need or should have thrown it away but never did. In the past, it was so cool to have an attic where grandma stored her prized valuables however, most houses don't have attics (or basements) in California where kids can escape to another world, another time. By the way, anyone out there interested in a TI 99a game computer (with plug in cartridges)?

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  2. Actually, Roe's story about the barn and the stuff was probably the long start of this trend, which only accelerated after we found out we were moving.

    Attics and basements true enough, although as we go on in the world, I don't know that we will have as much worth being transported back too. Consumerism and lifespan limited products leave us with things that are neither handcrafted, useful or "cool" to a younger generation who, in many cases, has become very technology oriented.

    Someone - I forget who, maybe the Fly Lady - said that you should try and gift/throw away/remove five things from your life every week. I might try that and see where we get to.

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