Now Comes the Hard Part
My sister and I left Houston after we packed a 7 foot moving cube with furniture, clothing, photos, art work, kitchen items and even sample sized bottles of Dr. Bronner Soap. These items belonged to our late sister. We chose items that we could use or share with our children. The remainder would be sold or donated.
It was important that the cube be completely filled to protect the contents from jostling around in the long journey from Texas to New Hampshire. It is amazing what can fit in such a small container when you spend the time to think about it. It is akin to playing Tetris with chairs and tables.
Once it was taken away we had the realization that the hard part was just beginning. Where are we going to put all of this stuff. Did I really need two more chairs or benches?
Too Much!
I unloaded the Pod in New Hampshire and had the sudden realization that we had to find a home for all of the stuff we had packed. As I was wheeling a chair into the garage I had an epiphany. I no longer owned my possessions, my possessions owned me. My life’s work would be moving things from one location to another. My son chided me for not taking two Vornado fans. How many fans does any human need? Why did I take a second set of silverware? Will that table fit in my house?
Containing the Chaos
I was pleased with my PODS experience. It afforded us the time to choose what we wanted to ship and it was easy to load a container that was on ground level. Everything arrived in perfect condition.
The POD people have placed me on a mailing list and it is actually a godsend. They have a blog called Containing the Chaos which may help me break free from my possessions.
It has a number of useful ideas to declutter your home and an explanation why that is so freeing. I saw one that echoed of my sister’s Ten Minute Tackle strategy.
I felt inspired. On Sunday I opened a drawer and threw out all the pens with no ink, leaking batteries and car keys for a Saturn that is just a bad memory.
It wasn’t just the small stuff I was dealing with. I moved out a large entertainment center from my office and replaced with a nice table from my sister’s house. The entertainment was full of stuff like hard drives, paper and old scanners. It was a catch-all.
It is in my garage and is FREE to anyone who wants it. I’ll wheel it out to the street with a big FREE sign. This is all a work in progress so stay tuned for updates.
