In three short days, my husband and I will leave our sweet 1700sq foot home in NE Portland for an 880 sq foot loft in the city’s cultural district. Needless to say I have given away a lot of things in the last month. I say I because truth be told, my husband is a man of few possessions. I envy that about him.
Me, on the other hand, I feel a bit like a hoarder. I thought letting go of things would be easier. And let me tell you, I have let go of a lot. The people at the ARC and Goodwill see me weekly. I have been to the dump no less than 3 times. I have given furniture and art and random things to friends and family, and still..still I have too much.
Yesterday my husband asked me, “do you think once we move in we’ll discover we still have too much and will have more stuff to get rid of?” I fear the answer may be “yes.”
The hardest things to get rid of ? Books. I didn’t part with my poetry and art books, but did manage to release several from my knitting collection. I will continue to let go of things. It feels great to have less. What’s also been hard has been letting go of any thing that has memories of my children imprinted on it. I did send off boxes to my kids and saved their baby pictures. I have to remember that memories are kept in the heart, not in possessions.
Saturday morning, when the movers deliver our possessions, we’ll see how well I’ve done letting things go. I want to live simply. I want to collect experiences rather than stuff. I want time over things. This weekend marks the beginning of a whole new way of living.