To paraphrase Mr. Webster, STUFF is personal belongings of an unspecified kind; ie. My Treasures, Your Junk.
I recently moved from a 3,000 square foot, 2 1/2 story home on acerage to a townhouse with a patio. 35 years in that house had created an environment for STUFF to multiply. Not only did I have my SPECIAL STUFF, but my grown kids used my place as a free STORAGE unit for their junk ( as apposed to STUFF).
A couple of yard sales, 13 boxes of books donated to the library, a large panel truck load of donated STUFF to a local resale shop and I was ready to move. The old upright piano was gone, but I kept and moved a 12 foot long wooden church pew, a heavy wooden porch swing, a trailer load of rocks and plants, the clothes that had not shrunk, and furniture that none of my kids wanted, one dog and one cat (the other 7 cats found new homes).
New home, less clutter; my STUFF under control. then my 91 year-old Mother decided she wanted to find new homes for her SENTIMENTAL collections. And her mother's STUFF. Her taste is Early American. Mine is Early Attic. My kids have no taste. Mother's size 3 clothes fit no one and are vintage. She collects knick knacks. What's that? Dustables. She doesn't understand our reluctance to see antique value. (How about e-bay?)
Soon, I'll spend 6 months in a 26 foot motor home. I'll leave Texas in shorts, sandals and t-shirts, but have to take a parka, mukluks and sweats for Alaska. No room for STUFF. I do indulge in reslale shopping for books. Campgrounds often have free swaps. Take one leave one. I leave one and take two until the RV begins to drag bottom and then I give them away.
So now I limit new STUFF to what will fit in an RV. What's your treasured STUFF? Who will appreciate it when you're long gone?
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I like George Carlin's routine about "stuff". Stuff can be kind of absurd and often useless to anyone but ourselves. I think about my stuff at lot, wondering what I can get rid of. When I start on the project of culling stuff, I usually just end up moving boxes and piles around and rearranging stuff. I have so much stuff that it's hard to inventory. I guess I could break it down into stuff that means something to me and little to anyone else (stuff that could be put into my museum if I had one), stuff that are family heirlooms in a way, and stuff that I might need someday (but then again maybe not). When I'm gone, if I haven't cleaned up and gotten rid of a lot of my stuff, then somebody's gonna have a mess to go through.
ReplyDeleteLee
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My most treasured "Stuff" is my memento's ofIrish singer/entertainer DanielO Donnell. I have personally written postcards from him,
ReplyDeleteThen there's the presents I have had from my family, the list is endless, What my family DON'T want is the DanielO Donnell stuff,
I enjoyed your post as usual.
Take care.
Yvonne.