The last few months have been difficult. I moved: I left my home of 22 years, an apartment in the city center, and went a few miles away to a new house (with a yard) in the suburbs. It's definitely been an odyssey and a test, and I can't see the end of it yet!
In June, my girls and I started packing and moving our things to a storage facility. In mid-July, the moving company came. But there was still stuff in the house! So we slept on the floor for two more nights and we finally succeeded in moving the last box out the day before signing the sale papers.
I didn't move into my new house until about a month later. In the meantime, my girls and I stayed elsewhere while the house was being painted. Our furniture was moved in on August 24th, but I'm still unpacking boxes....
Truth be told, almost a fourth of my possessions are still in storage. I had never realized I owned so much STUFF: furniture, books, clothing, books, dishes, books, appliances, books, shoes, books...I think you get the picture. The house seemed to cough up stuff as quickly as we could take it out. Some of that stuff didn't feel like it was mine, and some wasn't fit to keep, but I was required to move all of it simply because it was on my property. I was literally overwhelmed because I had never really taken responsibility for owning so many things and I didn't realize how much energy, time and money taking care of stuff requires.
Which got me to thinking...I had to organize to move all that stuff, and I'm in the process of moving it again - either to the new house or the municipal separate collection facility! I would finally have the chance to choose what I keep and what I do away with, AND how I dispose of stuff I don't want. To make the job less overwhelming, I've come up with a checklist:
Is it useful? Is it beautiful? (If even one of the answers is "yes", I still might not want it.)
Have I used it in the past two years? (Especially for clothing.)
Do I have a place to put it?
Can someone else use it or appreciate it more than me?
All this "stuff management" naturally brought me to consider the spiritual baggage I carry around year after year. After all, I have to "move" it because it's on my property, and I can choose what to do with it just like with physical objects. But how much "stuff" is lurking there that needs to be eliminated? The trash bin can have the guilt, painful memories and disbelief in my own abilities. I should clear out all that stuff so that it can't be used against me.
What do you think of this checklist for attitudes, habits, commitments and the rest of the spiritual "stuff"?
Is it loving?
Is it helpful?
Does it build up or tear down? (Myself and others.)
Does it need to grow? (Keep trying!)
Does it make my relationship with God stronger? (For difficult situations.)
The garbage sack in the driveway is therapeutic, and the orderly look of the cabinets is refreshing.
Just think of the space for new joy and new goals.
His mercies are new every morning...and now I've got a place to put them!
How do you deal with a surplus of stuff?
