Your Life in a Box

My daughter, husband and children move to Australia next week.  The reality of this has not yet sunk, maybe it will soon! But for now there is work to be done, as boxes are packed and possessions are sorted and prioritised.  I have to say I envy them, not just as you may expect for the move or the new life or adventures that lie ahead. I envy the fact that they are decluttering and downsizing, getting rid of unnecessary stuff!

This is the fifth time I have helped friends or family pack after choosing to emigrate.  Sue, Cat, Jan and Fiona all headed off for different shores.  My attic holds treasured boxes of memories for which, one day, they may return. 

On Wednesday the move cube came and my daughter had to pack their chosen possessions into a three meter squared container. Plenty of toys, hubby’s golf clubs, tools and some clothes.  Several years of “stuff” condensed into a box.

Two lines from songs came to mind. “And the Rich declare themselves poor and most of us are not too sure if we have too much but we’ll take our chances because (we feel) God’s stopped keeping score” And “My possessions are causing me suspicion but there’s no proof” What is too much? Why do we need so much stuff anyway? Do I have too much?

Working with the homeless they have very little, once kind people give them “stuff” it starts to impede, to weigh them down, to burden.  I feel challenged at the moment about my own possessions.  I am inheriting some of my daughters but feel I must in turn give some more away.  In a recent book cull I decided that for every one I kept I would give 3 away.

My daughter decided to weigh some clothes and books in, I was stunned when the young man sorted them and graded some items down to twenty pence a kilo.  Piles and piles of “stuff” lay around him waiting to be shipped abroad. Thousands of pounds of clothing in exchange for a few pounds.  When he offered £1 for fifty books I decided a charity shop would benefit more.

But for now she is feeling less burdened, lighter with fewer possessions. Their move leaves things in my house now unnecessary, the children’s toys, cups, plates and cutlery.  I am left wondering which things I would put into a three meter squared box should that decision ever have to be made. My possessions are causing me suspicion….and now I have the proof! Less is more.