Since arriving back a month ago we have house-sat at one house, now another and we will soon move a third time to a rental house. Meanwhile I have been humping and hauling boxes out of storage. Things we haven't needed or missed for a year. Books, kitchen equipment, clothes, musical instruments, bicycles, electronic equipment, linen, craft, toys, more toys, more books, some furniture. Load after load.
Consider that when we left Cape Town, over a year ago, we had thoroughly sold/ recycled/ thrown out everything we could, leaving only 'the essentials'[ for storage. It was a wonderful, lightening feeling to de-clutter, simplify, be free of stuff. Consider also that we would not want to think of ourselves as materialistic. 'Live Simply, Live Well' is a motto for us. And now you see that I am trying to come to terms with just how much we still have. Nothing like a dose of carrying all your belongings up and down stairs to bring it home that we still carry a heavy burden.
So.. should I be thankful, or dismayed? Should I draw up a list of 'things to take on the journey through life (and NO MORE)'? How should I feel about possessing material things?
I am psyching myself up to start opening the boxes and get to the bottom of what we really need, really want and what we can dispatch !
