This was my Granny’s flatware. Didn’t she have great style? Yesterday, when my landlord was in my apartment, he spied them in box, picked up a fork, and said, “You can’t sell these! They’re gorgeous."
I assured him that box was in the “store/keep” pile. This is the fourth time I've purged just about everything I own. Once in 2008, because I lost my job, eventually couldn't pay my mortgage and then lost the house. Purging the first time was hard, but the second and third time, it got easier.
Every time I purged all my stuff, this flatware was kept. Since I'll be travelling with nothing but a suitcase, laptop, and ampcoil, it will stay at friend's house for awhile with some other family heirlooms and items I love.
How do you relate to stuff? If you were headed to a desert island like me, what stuff what you take with you? What would you store? And what would you get rid of?
I have a problem. I like things… a lot. i wouldn’t consider myself materialistic, bc it’s not about the latest and greatest. I like antiques and odds and ends that tell a story…especially those that have a story. I like old toys, books, vintage kitchen items and household tchotchke, etc. I love having just the right dish for a holiday, or setting. “Oh it’s flag day? We should eat lunch on those flag dishes I have in the basement!” The problem is, the busier I’ve gotten in my life, the less time I have to go to the basement to get out those flag dishes, so they may end up sitting there on the shelf for a couple of …
Reflecting a bit, I think that the question is "What would you want to come back to?". If it was Mars rather than a desert island - no possibility of return - my list changes dramatically. So, what's this "objects to come back to" story all about? A Path in progress, I think.
I don't believe I'm a stuff person at this point. I usually stay in places for years, so I don't test that much. I know that I would miss many, many things if I lost them all, but, as I wander around my house, there is very little that I couldn't leave behind. Many things I keep out of a sense of "you paid good money for that," which I hear in my father's voice. Books are probably the key thing that I would feel the most emptiness without. Even though having them on Kindle would be much lighter, I love reading physical books.
I recognized it immediately! I'm so glad you're keeping it!
I went through this exercise recently in my writing group. All I could think of was my art but in all honesty, I could part with that also. I've moved 20 times and purged each time and I just don't care about stuff.