I own what?!

We are in the midst of an extensive purge of stuff.  The goal is to fit all our belongings either in a couple pieces of luggage each or in a ten by ten storage unit.  It is an interesting project.  And sometimes exhausting. Everyday I am snapping pics of furniture to post on craigslist and sending texts to my big kids asking if they want this book or these dishes, does anyone want my nightstands or a sewing machine or the kitchen table. Everyday we pack more boxes and sort through more clothing.  We have organized piles of boxes around the house.  This stack goes to grown kids.  This stack goes into storage.  That stack is to donate. That stack is to sell.  And then there is the undecided stack.  That's the tough one, all the stuff that will require further thought.  And work.

There can be something truly liberating about letting go of things though.  For reals.  First there is the guilt complex that some of my stuff just radiates! Books I should have read.  Projects I should have done.  But as soon as I remove that book or that fabric or whatever it is from my house, that pressure to do the task that that thing was constantly reminding me I hadn't yet done is just gone.  And it feels pretty good.  I am no longer a bad mother whose younger children cannot remember ever having been camping with the family, I am just someone who owns no camping gear.  A quilt I started to make more than 20 years ago which I have secretly hated almost from the beginning, but which I have felt all along that I 'should' finish it?  Well it is gone.  So there, I can't finish it.

Then there is just the responsibility and time involved in owning and organizing stuff.  We went through all our games last weekend.  We cleared out the cabinet in the dining room that housed all the little card games and travel sized games and chess pieces and dice (YES! we had a tub full of dice),  as well as the big closet that had all the bigger board games.  Now they are all in boxes to store or in a pile to give away and suddenly I don't need to spend another minute organizing the game closet for the millionth time, gathering up and properly distributing all the various game pieces that have mysteriously escaped their assigned box and are roaming freely on the shelves.  It is almost as though I have gained hours of free time that used to be dedicated to putting things away or fixing things or finding things.  Now I have some guilt free time to actually play the few games we kept out to use now.

Of course some things are harder than others to discard or even to put out of sight.  Some of my books were hard... what if I suddenly need to look something up in that particular history book?  What if I decide to re read all the Harry Potter books right now? What if I just like seeing my pretty books on the shelves?  Or my cute little elephant collection for that matter?  But its ok, I put those things in a box, I labeled the boxes, we will put them all in storage and I will see them again sometime.