I had a great time visiting friends, my Georgia-family, and Josh. I'll make sure to re-cap for you in one of my next posts, but for now my life is centering around my upcoming move to Georgia. I've been slowly chipping away at my mountains of stuff for the past two years, and these past six months I've done the bulk of the work. But none of the prior preparations could ready me for the task at hand that faces me now. Two years ago I had the luxury of going through my stuff, sorting it, and putting the stuff I didn't want to part with in a box in the garage. Out of sight, out of mind. I could also put the work off for later if I didn't feel like it at the time. But now I have to go through everything. No more putting it off. I am faced with the task of not only sorting through the rest of my stuff; which is hard enough, but going through all of those other boxes and deciding if what I really thought I needed is something that I actually need... and most of it isn't. Some of the work is annoying because of how long it takes to sort through and clean, some of it fun because I discover stories or letters from ten years ago, and some of it is heart-wrenching, because every item I have ever kept, I kept because it had some sort of special meaning to me - and now I simply cannot keep it all. So, armed with dozens of trash bags, I have raided my closet, thrown out more old clothes, completely emptied my dressers, stripped away the layers of papers on my bulletin board, cleaned out my desk, and chosen which items to put into my hope chest - basically a collection of old dresses, photographs, and the most special of mementos that is my special project for "someday", whenever and whatever that may be.
I know that I'm making progress, but I just have so much stuff! I have to get rid of so much, of course, because there isn't very much room in a college dorm. But there are some things I'm unsure of what to do with - such as my spark plugs and a back brace - that seem to fit into no particular category. I don't need them in College, they're certainly not keepsakes, but they're a bit pricey and it is very possible that I may need them in the future, so what to do I do with them?
This is not just a move-away-to-college-move. This is a legitimate move. For all terms and purposes, moving away for good. I will no longer be visiting home much. Of course I'll come back to visit Florida to see my wonderful friends, father, mother, siblings and all others not included in that list. But I don't intend to move back to Florida, and so I suppose my dilemma is psychological. I want to tie up my loose ends now, and part of that is looking at my stuff and saying, "Okay, either you are going to keep this and use it or you are going to get rid of it." No in-between, no stuffing stuff away in a box because I simply don't want to part with it. I don't want to move and know that I have all of this stuff just sitting in a box in Florida.
All that might seem very extreme, but as hard as it may be, it's quite refreshing, really. I'm a natural pack rat, but this new influx of minimalism makes me feel lighter, less weighed down. More than simply not wanting a whole bunch of boxes of stuff left behind is that I want to narrow my stuff down simply to what serves a purpose; I want to have the things I need, and no more.
Method of storage for College. I'm so excited!
Trying to fit as many things into as little a space as possible
The plus side of all my hard work: I found my favorite children's book. I thought I'd lost it!
Wish I could bring all of my books to college with me, too.
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