Stuff

I'm sure I've talked about it before but I don't feel like going back through my blog to find the post so I can link to it. Stuff. We have too much of it. Yesterday I gave away our dinning room set. Soooo great to get it out. We hardly ever sat at it. Our new house just won't accommodate it. The patio furniture? Gone. No patio at the new house. All those old VHS tapes? Gone. We haven't had a VCR in years. We haven't had a television in years!

I am well known as a purger. I can't tolerate piled up mess. I don't want to own books I can borrow from the library. I don't want to have so many clothes that I need to store them. Yes folks, all my clothes (winter and summer) fit into one dresser and one small closet. I have found that I wear the same 7 outfits whether I have 7 outfits or 70. So why have 63 outfits that never get worn?

We cleaned out the basement, we went through our books (I donated 4 or 5 boxes to the school), the kids purged their toys and games, I went through the kitchen cabinets, the shelves in every nook of our house.

Yet....I am still amazed at the amount of possessions we own. I am still amazed at how difficult it is for us to rid ourselves of it all. Ok, I don't want to get rid of it all, that would be silly. I do want to be mindful of what we need vs. what we want. Plus, by owning less we have less to take care of, less time spent organizing, less time cleaning and less time fussing. Harder to lose those items we really need or love.

Let us be content with what we have, instead of always craving something more. Let us spend time with our loved ones, not with the cashiers at the mall. Let us sing together instead of buying new CDs. Let us bake together instead of heading to Starbucks. Let us live simply in a complex world. It is difficult and many will think us crazy. Well, it won't be the first time and it won't be the last.

**The photo is a picture of Nathan's quilt. He made very specific requests about what he wanted on it and it includes a snapshot of his favorite things.**