Saturday, May 10, 2008

Give it Away NOW

I married early and by the time I graduated from college, we had accumulated an entire three-bedroom ranch house full of Respectable Stuff.

Sadly the marriage didn’t last and after graduation I headed from Tucson to Seattle in a small compact car to accept my first grown up job. I left everything behind except my clothes and a few important mementos secured in a carved Russian box.

The first night in Seattle, someone broke into my car and snatched the mementos off the front seat. The car window could be replaced but what about the Russian box? I couldn’t even rouse a satisfactory inventory of the treasured items. I was crushed.

Time flew by and even though I didn’t really miss nor need my Tucson Stuff I summoned movers who brought me what I had left behind. Decades passed. I accumulated more and more Seattle Stuff.

Time to move again. I discovered I had packed so much bulk into my little bungalow that it filled a HUGE moving van. When I reached the new house I realized that the Tucson Stuff and much of the Bungalow Stuff was no longer relevant, I was clinging on to it out of the fear that someday I might need it. I decided to give away everything I didn’t use.

At first it felt good. I gave my ten year old suits to a program for women attempting to get back on their feet. Then it broke my heart to see these brave women go to job interviews wearing outdated clothes I refused to be seen in. What if I had given the suits away as soon as I had stopped wearing them?

I filled an ENTIRE DUMPSTER with things too dingy from storage to even give away. I learned that Giving was much better than Having and infinitely better than Discarding. Look around your life and see what you can give away before it’s too late.

My List of Things to Give Away Now
1. Art supplies I haven’t touched
2. Novels I’ve read and won’t read again
3. Cookbooks – after I copy down a few recipes
4. Clothing that doesn’t fit or I don’t wear (once a year)
5. Unused Technology that still works - clocks, calculators, telephones
6. Sports equipment I don't expect to use again
7. Kitchen gadgets I’ve never used and will never use
8. Artwork I’ve grown tired of or is tucked out of sight
9. Unused beauty supplies
10. Classes on tape I’ll never listen to again

Occasionally a memento from the Russian box will float past my consciousness: my class ring, a LOVE button from the 60’s… the memories surface when I need them.

Giving sooner rather than later is now my act of faith.

I don’t worry about making a mistake. I’ll be okay regardless.

PS Others are following suit Voluntary Simplicity

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