The Tip of the Iceberg

Oh my! We have been gathering a few things for our church's annual garage sale this Saturday. It makes us realize that we have barely touched the tip of the iceberg! In preparation for selling this house eventually (who knows when at this time) and downsizing for retirement (or pre-retirement job), we have a ton of stuff. And it needs to be dealt with little by little, or maybe big by big.

We are not hoarders, however we have kept enough stuff to fill the wall shelves in our unfinished basement room, and then some. I have boxes and files from my teaching days that need to be given away or pitched. There are Christmas decorations used for many years, but not anymore. Old and mostly not-working electronics. Enough said. You get the gist.

Occasionally my husband reminds me I used to say, only a little in jest, that I never wanted to own more than what a VW Bus and U-Haul trailer attached to it could hold. That was my young, idealistic self talking. Whew, I've gone way over that---as would be expected. And yet this excess stuff does tell me about myself. In the future, I want to change that consumerism that I have bought into for too long. 

I can say, and I remind my husband of this, that I buy a lot less stuff and less expensive stuff than many people I know. That doesn't seem to amuse him. If I'm extravagant, it's been in my generosity to others (especially our daughters), and now to our grandchildren. 

Our daughters will be happy to read this, that we are working on cleaning out the clutter, so they won't have to some day. There are some things we want to ask them if they want, family "treasures".  Just know that we are thinking about all of this, working on it bit by bit, and realizing it must be done. Just the little we are taking to the church garage sale makes me feel lighter, that we've made a dent.