You never truly realize how many things you own until it’s time to move out.
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Never has this been more apparent to me than after days of lugging seemingly endless heavy boxes and furniture down multiple flights of stairs. My wife and I were in a race against the calendar to completely empty our former apartment before our lease was up.
Thankfully, we’ve had help – and with that help, we made it out on time. But any illusions I had of being a minimalist were proven false with each trip we took back and forth.
As material as they are, our possessions come to define us in a way. What we choose to discard or keep – even after years without seeing or using it – says something about us. It speaks to the place we are in our lives, what we value, and what no longer serves us.
Obviously, I kept everything I need for work. I also kept my art supplies and held on to instruments I haven’t played in years (but will, sometime soon). I kept old photos and even my childhood stuffed animal, still held together with Band-Aids.
If our possessions teach us anything, it’s that none of us are any one thing at any one time. We carry our past and present with us – sometimes literally – as we move into the future. But we can’t, and probably shouldn’t, take it all with us.
I donated bags of clothes that no longer fit. I tossed out my old desk, broken and chipping apart. Anything someone else might find useful has been earmarked for this spring, when I’ll take part in the proud hometown tradition of hosting a yard sale.
I’ll be honest, moving was a hassle. Packing two lives’ worth of memories into boxes, moving it elsewhere, and reorganizing it all is no easy task. We’ve had little time to focus on much else (outside of me reporting local news, of course). But as I’ve seen and written about developments in our area over the past few years, I’m reminded of just how fortunate I am to have somewhere to move into at all.
Of course, life isn’t about what we own or don’t own. Our possessions don’t say nearly as much about us as our ability to adapt to constantly changing circumstances. While things will seem unsettled for a while, I’m optimistic and excited for the chapters ahead – and to finally know where all my stuff is.
