Or Getting Rid of Too Much Stuff
Six months ago, when my son mentioned that it was time for me to live a simpler lifestyle, I agreed. My husband Bob had been gone for two decades. The time to downsize was overdue.
I wanted to remain in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Son and I found a perfect senior community, The Montecito, just a few miles from the home I’d occupied for 50 years. A major challenge: I would be going from 2,000 to 670 square feet.
Thus began major decluttering. Little did I realize how much the old house had tucked away. Closets, shelves, drawers, cabinets, the garage, and numerous nooks and crannies held books, memorabilia, clothes, shoes, memorabilia, and a thousand other things.
I do not recommend moving out and moving in at the same time. However, that’s what I did. For various reasons, I had decided to rent a Montecito apartment before putting my old house on the market. Staging and listing it with a Santa Fe realtor necessitated a completely empty house. For a month, I was living in two places at once. Transporting stuff, most days I drive back and forth from the old house to the apartment. Soon the old house will be totally empty. It has to be. The “staging” is happening mid-May (this will be done by my realtor, not me).
Stuff, stuff and more stuff. Will it never end? In the tradition of my old neighborhood, people schlep things to the road — drive-by giveaways. The Great Free Store. I’ve had good luck with putting things roadside, thereby unloading five foot lockers, three metal file cases, and many other items large and small. They disappeared in minutes, or at least overnight.
As I’ve emptied out my old place, I’ve traveled down Memory Lane. From the garage came favorite dolls from my past. I’m happy to say that all were adopted by little girls, granddaughters of friends. My old Montgomery Ward furniture was acquired by neighbor Wendi.
During the purge-a-thon, I’ve kept my sanity by taking long walks and working out at St. John’s College gym. St. John’s, my alma mater, became a home away from home. In the Student Activity Center is a long bench over which is a sign announcing “Free Stuff.” I take things there at least once a week. Yesterday I was working away on a stationary bicycle when I heard a student exclaiming “A lamp!” It was my former lamp. He waved it overhead like a trophy. How rewarding when ones excess can useful to someone else.
And so it goes. Car loads of my “discards” are going to charities – the Habitat for Humanity, the Animal Shelter thrift store, the Homeless Shelter.
My life will be pared down from too many possessions, and I will hardly remember all I gave away. I look forward to not being a slave to stuff. The new apartment is too compact to hold much. Less is more, I’ve come to believe.
Of course I will miss the old house but I’m excited about beginning this new chapter. At last I will get back to work on the novel-in-waiting, The Ganesh Girls Find Happiness. No wonder I haven’t gotten out a blog since March! Stay tuned.
Elaine Pinkerton is a Santa Fe, New Mexico author who publishes monthly blog posts on the writing life, adoption, and excursions in nature. Your feedback is welcome.
The Goodbye Baby 