all the things i didn’t miss
more than money, my family inheritance includes a burning compulsion to keep. to collect. some would say hoard. it’s a wonder my username isn’t packrat31. that’s about how many years i’ve been fighting this flaw. and wouldn’t you know, the flaw often wins.
stuff – i’ve collected
trinkets – i’ve kept
not much i’ve rejected
not much that i’ve left
what kind of stuff? sports cards, comic books, birthday cards, bottle caps, trading cards, stamps, toys, books, costumes, cassettes, CDs, vinyl records, movies (still have more on VHS than DVD), files and anything with a speck of perceived importance or shred of sentimental “value”. in my defense, i have a rigorous process that each item must endure before kept (most likely) or chucked (less likely). okay, a single question, and maybe not so rigorous: can i justify hanging on to this for just a little longer?
far too often, i convince myself that the answer is yes. which is why i’ve moved six times and still have a lot of the same junk i had when i first thought it was cool. even though i’m still young(ish), healthy(ish) and robust(ish), that gets tiring. and with a seventh move on the horizon, i’m trying to trim the fat and knock 40% or so of my stuff off the list before i pack the first box.
in some cases — as i discovered this afternoon — the first box is already packed. i was in the basement searching for the Christmas tree (the small one, not the other two we have. and yes, we have used two trees in one year before, but no … never three.) when i stumbled upon a box that hadn’t been opened since our last move 4½ years ago. sure, makes it easy to keep it ready for the next move, but do i really want to truck the same box from house to house over the years, only to have my kids open it when i’m dead and find that there’s nothing worthwhile taking up that space? (as i age, i’m apparently getting smarter, so the new answer is now no.) of course, i opened it (out of curiousity, not because i had the time) and found all sorts of little things that i couldn’t bear to leave behind last time we moved. all sorts of little things that i haven’t missed or even thought about since … like a broken stapler … and more cassettes that i bought specifically for my first car, because it only had a tape player. i don’t listen to tapes in the car anymore or at home or anywhere else, and i’m not shelling out $400 for one of those machines that transfers cassettes to your computer for playback and storage. so what’s the logical thing to do?
*sheepish grin
you’re right, but packrat31 does not live in a logical world.
so the box is still sitting in the basement, and i’m sitting upstairs pondering its fate. and i know that this is the turning point. this is it. if i dump the box, i will have inflicted the fatal wound in packrat31. the killing blow. not dead yet, but bleeding. heavily. and running out of time. because he will be caught so callously, so unaware, that he will be left gasping, clawing, screaming at this unexpected treachery. “you were my friend!” he will cry.
and i will crush his head.
…
but the box is still sitting in the basement, and i’m sitting upstairs pondering its fate. until that changes, packrat31 wins again.
That’s a tough one. Sounds like you’ve got it bad. But there’s hope! Think of someone (I know you can) that has it worse than you (i.e. more room to stash = more hoarded stuff) and use that as inspiration to boot the box(es) perchance you follow their path.
- i can reach goals (or come awfully close) when i a) define them clearly, b) write them down, and c) make them public
- inspiration is a ball that, once rolling, is tough to stop
I was just reading a previous blog post of yours and came across the above. Hmm….
Sounds like you have your wisdom for this situation lurking within your own blog!