Keep versus Toss
The packing has begun. And it's begun with the dangerous question: keep or toss. Dangerous because I always lean toward toss. I want to get rid of everything... start anew. A clean slate. If I haven't worn it, looked at it, touched it, used it, loved it, thought of it in the last year or so, it's outta here. I am not overly sentimental and I don't like a lot of stuff for stuff's sake. I pack lightly.
Colin, on the other hand, sways toward keep. He's more conservative on what he pegs as useful, and if he thinks it might come in handy someday, he'll most definitely keep it. (And with his sneaky McGyver ways, he just might use it.) He puts off the decision to purge with the mindset: If I throw this away now, I will not have the option to use it in the future... so I will keep my options open by saving it.
He told me the other day that if I had it my way, we'd be traveling monks with just the clothes on our backs and a tea cup for drinking water... and then I'd be complaining that we were weighed down by the tea cups and we should toss them.
Now, we've had to get to a place of compromise over the last few years. I've stopped burning my my artwork and he's stopped saving receipts from our dates. But we're not nearly on the same page yet. So we've been in a bit of a pickle.
But one thing we do agree on are the various methods or ridding yourself of your stuff. These are our categories:
recycling Goodwill trash garage sale half-price books friends/family
I think we both feel better when we give our stuff to anywhere but the trash... giving it to Goodwill or a garage sale means that someone else may come along and think of your trash as their treasure... and this warms both of our hearts. (I know that I find some real finds at Goodwill sometimes!)
And the garage sale option is even better because you can get *paid* for your unused snowshoes or used paperbacks. (Yay candy-money!) (By the way... I'm having a garage sale this Friday and Saturday if you want to come by... couches, chairs, treadmills, bikes... you name it. Colin, you're not allowed to be there.)
We have family and friends coming over and picking through the piles, finding stuff they want for their houses. And all my houseplants are going to my sister-in-law, which makes her happy. Feels sort of nice to keep your stuff in the family. Then you can see it all going to good use.
The moving van line we are using charges by the pound, so I say "Let's toss!" (as Colin secretly stashes things in boxes when I'm not looking). All I know is: all I need to be happy is he and I, our pets and the clothes on our backs. (Tea cups, not allowed.)