Moving Out

Things I have not used in years have been discarded. Clothes I have not worn are going to someone who will. Things have fresh paint that should have been painted years ago. Someone is coming to clean better than I ever could.

My place is near move-in ready and I am near ready to move out.

The purging process is interesting. It is amazing how free one can find himself by discarding hard earned possessions. Even small things like discarding CD and DVD cases, leaving behind only their precious innards, can be freeing. No longer does one need to purchase shelving to house said baggage. No longer does one have to figure out how to move all of the items.

There is a great travel site that changed my outlook on travel forever. This site shows you how to go anywhere, from San Diego to India, with only carry on luggage. By being adventurous on one trip, onebag.com helped show me how freeing going with less stuff is. Extrapolated, this applies to the rest of life, as well.

Possessions can own us. Sure, it’s nice to have something to wear for every occasion, a tool for each purpose, and plush spaces for your multiple copies of Star Wars (one DVD, one VHS). But how often do we need this stuff and does it make our lives more enjoyable?

Forcing oneself through a situation where you must purge your possessions is not standard issue. Most of us settle down in one spot and do not move. Even if we do move it usually involves friends or a moving company.

And do we need everything? I have gone five years without a headboard above my bed. While some of you may think this is behavior of a damaged person, others might realize that the piece of wood (formica) above their bed is an added stress and expense. And what does this give us?

Decoration?

Maybe this is all a bit Spartan? But somehow there is some poetry, especially as so much of us are learning that we may have to live with less. But what I am realizing is that with less, I am getting much more out of life. And as a wise man I know keeps saying, “the hearse doesn’t have a roof rack.”