Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Mundane Wednesday. How do you find joy in the mundane? My answer; Wait, someone will find something for you to do. Of course, for me they did.
I went to the storage facility we rent from and was presented with the challenge of having to find a different option for my dad’s possessions. He has years of collected “valuables”, which for the sake of this writing, I will call “his stuff.”
Not that I think much of it is of value, but it is to him. I figured perhaps I could find room at my house for “his stuff”. Which presented me with another challenge of reorganizing my “stuff” to fit his “stuff”. My stuff is valuable. Not according to my daughter, who has her own “stuff”, which is valuable to her. So how do I fit three person’s collections of “stuff” into a two-bedroom apartment? What really is all this “stuff”? “His stuff” is an assortment of books that he routinely asks for because he assumes I got rid of his “stuff”, along with assorted and sundry “valuable” things like a box of Pesos, 20,000 emails he printed out, clothes he hasn’t worn in 20 years, my grandmothers enormous treadle sewing machine and a trunk full of my grandparent’s “stuff.” My stuff is things left over from remnants of life, pictures, my adult “kids” artwork from when they were 3 years old, various and sundry art projects at any stage of development, Christmas “stuff”, old legal papers, candles, books, and other “stuff”. My daughters stuff is an assortment of shoes, makeup, clothes she never wears, all of which she considers valuable.
When I look at this list of “stuff”, I realize that I am holding on to at least 6 generations of “stuff.” It is apparent that none of us can take our “stuff” with us, to that other realm of existence; otherwise, I would not have so much “stuff” to deal with. Others will be left to deal with our “stuff” and find themselves in a quandary for how to fit all of the “stuff” into 800 square feet of living space along with their own “stuff.” It is daunting to think that, at this rate, my grandchildren will be holding on to their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents stuff until Jesus returns.
This is Insanity! I looked at the “stuff” and some of it is so old it was toted from other lands two centuries ago! But, if I throw it away, who is to say what the valuable “stuff” is? And, if I get rid of the really old “stuff”, will I be dishonoring the memory of those who passed on? Or, will that “stuff” turn out to be more valuable than I think it is?
One of these days I will pass to the other side. I don’t want to leave a collection of unmarked, unidentified “stuff” that others will not know what to do with. It would be a shame for my grandfather’s love letters to my grandmother from World War I, to be pitched in the landfill along with other people’s “stuff.” I would like to leave a legacy for other generations to have so they will know where their roots are from. After all, we are descended from Scottish nobility, Irish, English, Mexican, Italian and other immigrants, and even some crazy people, like One-Eyed Jack. If I toss the stuff out, no one will know. One of my descendants might care about this “stuff.”
So today, when I got home I made a list of “stuff” that has to be reorganized, catalogued, scanned, stored, and tossed. I doubt that future generations will care much about my dad’s T-shirts that he hangs on to for dear life, or his unmentionables that he will never wear again. Then again, they probably won’t care about some of my artwork, or my assorted art supplies, or my collection of angel figurines that I have no place to display.
Today my joy will be in facing yet another challenge. After all, challenges present us with a reason to keep living. So, what do I do with all this “stuff?”
Copyright © 2010 by Susan Linn-Gomez. All Rights Reserved.
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