YOU NEVER SEE A HEARSE PULLING A U-HAUL

Charlie and I have spent the pass couple of weeks going through our "stuff". We sold the house within a month and now need to get on down the road so to speak.
As some of your know, we are moving toward being full-timers on the old RV circuit. Which is frightening and challenging in itself. Then comes the most difficult part of our journey so far. Getting rid of stuff, storing stuff, or trashing stuff.

So that brings me to the purpose of this blog. Many of you including myself have lived in basically the same house for a long period of time. This means you have more stuff than you can imagine. If you don't believe me, just go look into the back of the place where you store your baking or cooking utensils. See, I told you so. So listen, this is really important.

NOBODY wants your stuff. Stop telling yourself that the kids will want aunt so and so's crochet doily that you have been hauling around all these years. They don't want our stuff. As we have sifted through years of our stuff it is becoming painfully clear that 99% of it is useless junk. Perfect for a thrift store or the church closet for the needy. But not to hold onto.

I was fine until it came to my clothes. I stalled out, just stood there looking at my clothes but more importantly, my prize Tee Shirts!! The ones I have worn so many times, they cannot be washed again. They represent me in some weird way. How crazy is that. Well not too crazy if you put it in the context of our culture. We are told that stuff is what we need in life to be happy. Once again, if you don't believe me just turn on the TV to one of those info/buy places. Or perhaps a ball game with over 100 commercials in 3.5 hours. Look not at the product but the underlying message. Many of them are basically saying, if you want to be cool or hip, you need get off your ass and get over the computer and buy some more stuff. Forget going to the store, you can shop from the comfort of that spot on the couch that has a permanent contour of you when you get up to the computer. Don't get me started on food advertising.

That felt good. Now back to reality. I am coming to some realizations that I would like to pass on that I hope will help you when you start downsizing, or rightsizing as I like to call it. I guarantee you that at some point in that process you will come to at least two awakenings. One is that you have WAY too much stuff. Two is that you are very attached to it. When you start having to decide which box to put it in, I recommend breathing and telling yourself the truth. Which is "NOBODY WANTS THIS OLD STUFF.

I am very attached to the hand sewn blankets my granny quilted with her two sister while sitting in the living room watching the Reverend Billy Graham in black and white. I think I have about 15 of them in a box in the garage. I have not seen these relics in at least 20 years or more. But the minute that box comes open my heart strings get plucked thinking about how much I loved my granny. Then I can't imagine getting rid of any of these relics. So I gently fold them back up and put them back in the box. I am sure somebody will want these when I am gone. Trust me on this one, NOBODY WANTS YOUR GRANNY"S OLD QUILTS.  Oh sure, if I had the time I could sort them and give some to each of my children or grandkids. But most of our kids don't want more stuff. They have way too much stuff already. And they are not attached to the past like we are.

I can just hear some of you thinking, he better not give those blankets to the thrift store or God forbid, put them in the trash box.

After  selling a good bit of our stuff, making 13 trips to the thrift store, and 6 truck loads of books to the library which I am sure they sent directly to the incinerator, we are starting to get down to what really matters. Christmas ornaments!

It felt sacrilegious putting the baby Jesus in the black trash bag that was heading to the thrift store. I am not kidding about this. Just wait until you go through your religious artifacts in the storage closet. Even marking out "Christmas Stuff" on the plastic bins made me queazy. This just shows me how engrained all of this stuff is in my brain. It's like I have been hardwired to think all this religious stuff is SO important. It looks more like a pile ancient ruins laying there with lights, candles, angels, broken glass ornaments, etc. Can you imagine what they will say two hundred years from now when they start looking into all those hermetically sealed storage units around the country.

So it's time to start getting rid of your stuff before you have to or God forbid, your kids have to. That is about the worst thing you can do is die with a house full of your precious junk. Trust me, NOBODY WANTS YOUR STUFF.

So here is what I am learning:

1) NOBODY WANTS MY STUFF
2) My stuff is not very cool anymore
3) Most of my stuff has not been seen by anyone in over 20 years
4) It's really hard to get rid of stuff that I have decided is important to me
5) It is freeing when I let go of all that and say good buy to my stuff
6) I am starting to feel lighter ever day
7) We are doing my kids a favor by getting rid of our stuff
8) I wish I would have dematerialized many years ago

And here is what I recommend should you decide it's time. Believe me, it's way past time to declutter your life. First have your kids go through all your stuff to see if they want any of it. If so, have them remove it from your house. You are not their personal storage unit.

1) it gets easier every day - Keep an open box in the LR to put stuff into
2) the more I get rid of the more I want to get rid of
3) make four piles - give away, sell, keep, trash.
4) After you have your piles, go back through the sell and keep piles and get rid of 50% of each pile.
5) Now you are ready to start four new piles with what is left - Keep, sell, give away and trash
6) repeat steps 4 and 5.

Now you should be able to put your stuff in a 10x10 storage unit. If not, go back to steps 3 thru 6.
I am so sure that some of you are feeling terrible right now just thinking about it. It's not easy. Make it a game. Just realize how attached to stuff you are. Saying to yourself, there is no way I am going to go through this. This is crazy. What is crazy is that you falsely believe your stuff is of any value to anyone.

But the rewards are amazing. You will feel lighter, more free, relaxed, and awake. Now you will have the energy to do what you have been putting off. You have cash, space, and time. So get out there!

And for the record, none of my granny's quilts were harmed in this process. They will be safely tucked into that storage space.

Be well,

Capt Coy, Charlotte, and Jojo the pretty good dog