The stuff we collect

We packed most of the things we had accumulated over the two years of our marriage into five medium and three large boxes. While it took us two weeks to sort out what we’ll sell, give away, and bring home, it took more than that to detach myself from the stuff I’d given sentimental value.

I can’t even believe I cried over things we cannot bring over, just because we don’t have the space anymore to put them in, and the money to add more cargo. The constraint really pushed me to say goodbye to things I never would have wanted to let go of. I couldn’t help but replay all The Minimalist podcast episodes I’ve listened to over the years, while their taglines, “Love people, use things, because the opposite never works,” and “Live a meaningful life with less,” kept playing in my head, nagging me at my weakest moment.

All I could think about was how we were penalized by the things we owned, how there’s a cost to acquiring them and a cost to keeping them. Perhaps the lesson I learned about finding joy in the midst of it is how we can get more joy when we give things away, especially the ones we would have liked to keep.

Receiving heartfelt thanks was so rewarding that giving things away never felt so bad at all. Instead of thinking about how I could cram more of them into our boxes, I was encouraged to consider what we could give away instead. I felt my hands (and my heart) start to open to the happiness of others, instead of clinging to things that surely wouldn’t make me any happier just by owning them.

As we taped all the boxes and encased them with industrial wrap, I kept telling myself that we own things, not things owning us. And so I was able to move away, and forward, ever lighter and open to more possibilities in life.