Being Content
Contentment begins with gratitude.
Dear Friends:
Thank you to those of you who reached out to me in kindness following my last post about the loss of our beloved Golden Retriever. Your heartfelt messages mean so much to me. We are adjusting to the quiet of a home without a dog and will have another dog again when the time is right. For now, I am catching up on all the important, but not urgent tasks that I neglected to do whilst our dog was sick.
While neither important, nor urgent, I recently attended an estate sale of someone I knew. I won't share their details, as it's not my story to tell. However, I will share my feelings having attended this estate sale, in a home that I had frequented as a guest and on occation as a caretaker while the owner was away. Going in the home as a potential buyer of their things stirred up lots of emotions for me.
I rarely stop at secondhand sales and yet, curiousity got the best of me in this case. I stumbled upon the estate sale, noticing cars lined up in front of the home 90 minutes prior to its scheduled start time. Early birds. I chatted with some of the folks to learn what was happening. Most of them were retirees eager to chat and filling time with a hobby of collecting. Others were resellers. It felt so strange to be in the home crowded with strangers seeking treasure. It felt sad and disrespectful.
And then there was the stuff, lots of it. I like to think of myself as a wannabe minimalist. My home has plenty of low hanging fruit for decluttering. And yet, I was reminded that we probably have less stuff than the average American. Definitely less than what was being sold and bought. The shear volume of stuff felt overwhelming to me. And, probably to the homeowners' loved ones, as a company had been hired to clear out the home. Professionals, with no emotional hangups.
My husband was with me as we looked about. We did purchase a few small items for a very reasonable price and with restraint. I like the idea of a circular economy as it reduces waste. More and more, I try to purchase things secondhand: both for the savings and the impact on our environment. At the same time, shopping secondhand can be a slippery slope into purchasing items we neither need, nor will use, because everything is so much cheaper than retail.
Under the circumstances, I felt discomfort and contentment. I didn't truly need anything from that estate sale. I could have walked away emptyhanded and felt very happy. The small amount of money spent for the high quality items we purchased was also good. And, we have used the items we purchased, integrating them into our own home.
Less than two weeks after the sale, the home was put on the market and once again cars lined up with folks eager to take a peek inside. It was priced to move and I heard an offer was made quickly. The stuff is gone. New owners will arrive with their own possessions.
In the end, all the things we collect throughout our lives have very little meaning or value to others. Thinking of this reminds me to stay on the path towards a more minimal lifestyle. I don't want my stuff to become a burden to myself or anyone else.
In contentment,
Carolyn
P.S. Regular Open Office Hours are paused until autumn 2023. I might offer a few free pop up sessions sporatically on Zoom or around Ann Arbor, Michigan. If you would like to join me and gain some accountability with your organizing projects, send me an email to be added to the list.
P.P.S. Thank you to those of you who have supported my work on Ko-fi! I love providing valuable, ad free content, at no charge to you. If you feel compelled to contribute, please consider providing me with a one time or monthly tip on Ko-fi. I don't drink coffee, but am fueled by tea and dark chocolate. I so appreciate your support in any way. It helps keep my message complimentary and ad free.
